Transformers: New Generation
by Grandfire
Summary: My second book. Enjoy! Rated T for mild use of human cursing. Give enough good reviews, and my third and final book can be available for you to read.


I said, "Begin the data collecting." Preceptor said, "Data collecting program ready." I said, "Run training program 903125." Ironhide said, "Training program ready." I said, "Activate landscape program 004." All the Autobots' heads looked to me in surprise and concern. I gave each of them a stern look. They got back to their stations and Swerve said, "Landscape program ready." I said, "Activate enemy program U23." Grimlock said, "Program U23 are ready." I said into a microphone, "Are you ready for this Spitfire? We can wait a while for you to develop your powers more." From the training room, Spitfire said, "I need to pass this test to see if I'm strong enough to protect my family." I backed my head away from the microphone and said to myself, "What am I going to do with him? He says that he's not strong enough but what he doesn't realize is that he became stronger _because _he has a family." Grandthunder surprised me by saying, "Well, you were once that way. So it's no surprise to me that he's acting the same way." I looked to him and shook my head jokingly. I said, "Begin the simulation…now!" Inside the hologram training room Spitfire went through the same routine that always causes him to fail the training exercise. When everything in the room powered down, I turned to Preceptor, who knew what I was going to ask and shook his head sadly. I sighed and spoke into the microphone, "Sorry son. No difference this time than last time we ran this program." Spitfire said, "Slag it all! I know I can pass this exercise with enough tries! You were able to pass it without even moving! If you could pass it, then I can pass it." I sighed to myself again. Spitfire doesn't realize that the exercise he keeps failing really did happen to me. The memory is too painful to bring up. I said, "Your all dismissed." As they were leaving, I heard Grimlock say, "Me Grimlock could pass test with me Grimlocks' optics blindfolded." I smiled to myself. I walked with Grandthunder to the council chamber. On the way there, he said, "You know, if you were to show him how you 'passed' that program, then maybe he can do it too." I looked to him in shock. I said, "You know I can't do that. What if he takes it too far? I don't want to lose my only son to the shadows of dread." Grandthunder slapped me on the back of the head. I said, "Ow! Whatcha do that for?" Grandthunder said, "You shouldn't even think of thinking like that. You know that no matter what the outcome is, he will always pull trough, just like you." I said, "Right. But if you ever do something like that to me again, I'll have your tail in a sling!" He and I laughed at my joke as we got to our seats in the council chamber. In the center of the room was the bot who had shot me through my spark chamber and nearly caused me to go offline, for good. The chamber was round like a circle and the chairs varied in size, depending on your importance of the trial or hearing. I was in the chair that was the biggest and was directly in front of the accused or the one who has something to say to the council. To my left was Grandtide, Grimlock, Optimus Primal, and Silverbolt. To my right was Wheeljack, Blurr, Grandthunder, and Airrazer. Ironhide was next to the chained up Astrotrain. Ironhide said, "Astrotrain. You stand accused of shooting a Prime through the spark chamber from behind, resisting arrest, firing on Elite Guard officers and claiming that Galvatron wasn't destroyed. How do you plea?" Astrotrain remained silent. Grimlock pounded his fists into the table in front of him and said, "Chu-chubot will answer question given by vanbot!" I looked to Grimlock and said, "Calm yourself Grimlock." I turned back to Astrotrain and said, "Answer the question." He only snorted and said, "You can kiss my skidplate Taby. 'Cause I'm not answering any of your questions." I have to admit it, Astrotrain had me pegged. Which was bad for him, and good for us. I leapt out of my seat, transformed to my new lion beast mode, landed in front of Astrotrain, leapt at him, caused him to fall on the floor and growled, "You really don't want me any angrier than this. Now, answer the question!" Astrotrain only smiled and said, "Fine. I'm guilty as charged. Throw me into the stockade. I'll get help to bust me out. All I need to do is call Skywarp and…" I cut him off by saying, "Skywarp is one of us. There'll be no escape from the stockade for you." All the pigment in Astrotrains' faceplate was flushed away when I said that. His smile also faded. I got off of him, transformed to robot mode and said, "Get him out of my sight." Ironhide grabbed Astrotrain by the collar and dragged him out of the chamber. I looked to the others and asked, "Is there anything else we're needed for?" They all shook their heads. I said, "Good. This council is adjourned." Everyone got out of their seats and left the chamber. The only ones left were me, Grandtide, Grandthunder and Airrazer. They were concerned, I could tell.

I looked to the three of them and asked, "What?" Grandthunder said, "I've never seen you that angry before Grandfire." Grandtide added, "Nor have I." Even Airrazer looked afraid of me. Then on mine, Grandthunders', and Grandtides' com-links, Wheeljack said, "Could the three of you come to my position. Like, right now." He sounded rushed. I said, "We're on our way," and cut the connection. The three of us then went to Wheeljacks' warehouse. The door was locked for some reason. I knocked on it and said, "Open up Wheeljack. We're here." I heard a click noise and Wheeljack said, "Grandfire, you can come in first. There's someone in here who knows you." I said, "That's no surprise Wheeljack." He then said, "She knows you by your human name." That caused the lion head on my chest plate to slack its' jaw. I said to the others, "Wait here," and stepped inside. Either the maid had the day off or Wheeljack was trying to fix everything Ratchet left behind when his old spark finally gave out. Everywhere were nuts and bolts, old batteries that lost all their juice long ago, rusty equipment and a lot of new stuff I didn't recognize. Wheeljack led me to the only 'clean' area of this entire warehouses' room. Sitting on a table was a femme with three different shades of green on her frame. She had a tail like mine, a lion tail, but she had wings that belonged to a falcon. Her servos were claws that also belonged to a falcon. In fact her entire upper frame was that of a falcon, but everything below her waist was lion. Her lion half looks like mine does, enlarged below the knee so that it matched the upper part of the leg and feet in robot mode. Her chest plate was a falcons' head facing down. The femme noticed me and asked, "Who the heck are you?" I said, "I was about to ask you the same thing. Wheeljack said that you know my human name. How? The only ones who know my human name are my wife, my friends and my human family." The green femme got of the table, walked up to me and said, "There's no way you're him. You're much braver looking than he ever was." I said, "You thought I wasn't brave Vicky? Well this shows how wrong you are." The femme responded to the name 'Vicky' like I was hopping for. Her anger quickly went away when she realized that I was her old human brother. She asked, "Are you really Andrew, my one and only brother from a long time ago?" All I did was smile. Her optics went wide. She came at me with a hug so great that it was starting to hurt. I said, "Vic…crushing…losing felling in whole body." She quickly let go of me and said, "What happened to you? You look, well, very different. Which brings this up. What happened to you so many years ago? You've had mom and dad so worried about you. I was even worried about you. We got a call from your old school saying that you, Samantha and Shaun left with some new kid and never came back the following days afterward." I said, "It's a long and very ugly story, which I will tell you after you've shown me your powers." She looked at me, confused. "What powers," she asked. I said, "The element powers that you now possess." She still looked confused. I said, "Wheeljack, have the usual training program for finding out powers ready for me." He nodded and went off. I turned back to the door and yelled, "You guys can come in now!" Grandthunder and Grandtide walked over to where Victoria and I were standing. I said, "Grandthunder, Grandtide, I'd like you to meet my sister, Victoria. Vic, this is Grandthunder, my second in command, and my wife, Grandtide." Vic looked to them both and asked, "Why do they look so familiar?" Grandthunder, Grandtide and I laughed a little bit. Vic then asked, "What's the joke?" I said, "You recognized me but you can't recognize them. Come on Vic! They were my best friend in my human days." Vic went wide opticed again. She asked, "So he's…" I said, "Yes." Pointing to Grandtide, "And she's your…" I said, "Oh yeah." Vic went into stasis lock after I said that. The three of us brought Vic back to Cybercity. A little while later, she powered up again, but in the training room where we see what powers a transformer has. Vic got to her feet and asked some questions that had human cursing in it. I said, "Vic, we're just going to see what element powers you've obtained." She said, "Alright. But I better get a cool name too." It turns out that she was green to represent the element of wind. I said, "Ok, ok! You can stop now." Vic did stop. I looked to Preceptor and he said, "Well, she has adapted well to her new body. Her control for her powers is incredible. Well then, all we need is a good new name for her." I said, "Put her name in the data-tracks as Grandgale." Preceptor said, "Alright. Her new name is Element Autobot Grandgale." I asked Vic, "Is that name cool enough for you, Grandgale?" Her response was, "It works for me." I said, "Then lets go meet your nephew."

Grandgale asked, "Nephew? When did you get a son?" I said, "Not just a son, but twin daughters." Grandgale went wide opticed, yet again. Then I said, "But before you see them, you have to go to school." Grandgale looked at me confused. I said, "A school where you will be taught the proper way to say certain words in the transformer dialog." Grandgale asked, "After that, do I get a cool weapon like you?" I said, "What do you mean? I haven't shown you my weapon yet." She said, "I mean…this weapon," as she pulled out Bankai from her storage compartment in her back. I checked my own storage compartment and only found a sticky note that had IOU on it. I scowled at Grandgale and she only smiled. I held out my servo and said, "Hand it over." She said, "Not until you promise me that you'll give me my own weapon." I said, "I'll have Ratch…" I stopped myself. "I mean, Wheeljack, to have something made for you when you're done learning the transformer way." She handed me my sword and said, "Good enough. And red and orange suits you well, Tunabreath." I turned to her in surprise. She giggled and said, "I hope that Wheeljack can build quickly."

……

In under a quartex, Grandgale was able to learn the speech patterns of us transformers. And Wheeljack built her a crossbow that only fit her servos. She inspected it confusingly. She asked, "Where are the arrows that I'm suppose to use and how am I going to load them into this if there isn't even a loading hole?" Wheeljack said, "The arrows will be made out of your wind element. Just concentrate on the barrel of the crossbow and pull the trigger." Grandgale put the crossbow away, walked over to me and asked, "So when do I get one of these," as she tapped on my left shoulder where my Autobot symbol is. I said, "Come with me, I'll personally engrave your Autobot symbol." She and I walked out of Wheeljacks' room and headed to my own room. I looked to Grandgale and asked, "How did you become a transformer?" She shrugged and said, "I'm not too sure myself. The last thing I remember is seeing you walk into an old warehouse. I followed you in and I suddenly blacked out. The next thing I see is Wheeljacks' faceplate examining me in a rude manner." I asked, "How long ago was it when you saw me walk into the old warehouse?" She said, "I'm not 100% positive, but I think the date was about…" Her voice trailed off. I asked, "What?" She looked to me and said, "A few months after you disappeared." She and I both stopped, frozen in place. We started to walk again but we both remained silent till we got to my room. I opened the door and allowed Grandgale to step in first. She was amazed by what she saw in my room. And for security reasons I cannot tell you what is in my room. I said, "Take that door over there and lay down on the bed in the room behind it." She nodded and did what I instructed. I went through a different door that led me to the control panel that controlled the Symbol Engraver. I turned on the machine and said, "This might hurt a little." Grandgale only gave me the thumbs up. I then asked, "Where do you want the symbol to be?" She said, "On my right shoulder." I set the position of the beam. I then asked, "How big do you want it?" She said, "As big as yours." I set the size and pressed the start button. Other transformers would be screaming in pain right about now, but my sis is tougher than that. She groaned a little, but took the pain anyway. When the machine chimed that the process was done, I looked at my sister to see an Autobot symbol that matched her frame colors. I said, "Welcome aboard to the Element Autobot segment of the Autobots, Grandgale, controller of the wind." She smiled at me, happy that she was with her older brother again. As we walked out of my room, Grandgale kept rubbing her shoulder. I said, "It'll feel a little raw and weird until you get used to having the symbol, trust me, I know." She looked to me with a smile that told me _Where is my new nephew?_ I said, "You know, I should introduce you to Spitfires' wife too. And their kids." Grandgale looked away and mumble, "You just made me feel older than I should." I couldn't help but laugh a little. Then someone bumped into my leg. I stopped and looked down to see Hotstreak. I said, "What great timing. Hotstreak, I'd like you to meet your great Aunt Grandgale. Is your father around?" Hotstreak looked at me with the most concerning of looks. I understood right away. I asked, "Where are they?" He said in a scared voice, "In their room. Mom is knocked out, dad's doing all he can, but he can't hold up to that black bot that came barging in." I had finally snapped. I looked to Grandgale and said, "Stay with Hotstreak. Keep you and him safe until I deal with the black bot." She nodded, grabbed Hotstreak by the servo and the pair of them ran of. I said, "Now it's personal, Scourge."

I ran as fast as I could in robot mode to Spitfires' room. When I got there, I tried to open the door, but it was looked. I could hear metal against metal in the room. I drew Bankai, cut a huge 'X' into the door, and then kicked the door inward, causing it to split into a lot of little pieces. What I then saw made me even more angrier than ever before. The entire room was trashed, tables in splinters, computer screens smashed in, and to top it off, a huge hole in the wall directly in front of the door. I guessed Spitfire took the battle outside. I heard a groan from under a pile of ruble and quickly moved the debris away. Thunderbird lifted herself up and was holding her head with one of her servos. I said, "At least you're alright." I turned to the hole in the wall and saw a red bot with a bow-staff fighting against a black robot with a black version of my sword. Upon seeing that, I went into super mode, leapt out of the seventh floor window and landed very hard on the ground below. When I looked at the fight again I saw Spitfire, with his back to the ground, struggling to keep his opponents' sword from cutting his faceplate in half. I ran to the battle. When I knew I was in ear shot, I said, "Get of my son you Decepti-creep! If you want someone to fight, then fight me!" When the black bot turned his head, he made the first mistake when fighting me or my son. Spitfire took this opportunity to bring one of his feet up into his opponents' legs, hard. The black bot howled in pain, let go of the sword he was using to guard his 'sensitive' area, and made mistake number two when fighting me or Spitfire. I came up to his faceplate so fast that he flinched when I said, "Your not going anywhere." I swung Bankai in an upward motion, causing the black bot to fall down on his back. When he tried to get up, I had Bankai at his throat. It was strange. He was afraid of me, as if he didn't know who I was. I asked, "Who are you?" He stuttered a little. He then said, "My name is Dreamcaster. I was paid a lot of energon coins to off some bot named Spitfire." I brought the tip of my sword closer to his throat. I said in a low growl, "He's my son. Next time, see who it is you're suppose to hunt before you except the hunt." Dreamcaster said, "You're his father?! I never would have said yes if I'd known that Spitfire was the son of the great Grandfire! Please, arrest me! I don't want to do this job any…" He didn't finish because his computer said, 'This unit has lost its' spark because of major internal damage.' Dreamcaster went limp as his optics suddenly powered down for the last time. I stared at the sparkless body in surprise. The I heard sirens going off around me. I looked around and saw that Spitfire and I were surrounded in Elite Guard officers. Armorhide said, "Grandfire Prime and Spitfire Prime, you are both under arrest for killing a innocent bot in cold energon." I said, "What are you talking about? This bot attacked Spitfire and I was only helping." Armorhide said, "And here I thought you didn't lie about what you did. We had the Sky Spy watching your whole fight from start to finish. Unless you can give a witness as to proving your story true, then go and get them." Then a voice said, "I can give a witness account, and so can two others." All heads turned. The officers parted for Armorhide and I to see Grandgale, Thunderbird, and Hotstreak. Armorhide asked, "Who the blue pit are you," as he pointed to Grandgale. She said, "Once upon a time, I was human, just like Grandfire, Grandtide and Grandthunder." Armorhide said, "Even though he's guilty, you will address Grandfire Prime with respect." Grandgale said, "I'm his sister you blockheaded moron!" Everyone was shocked by that. Armorhide said, "Well then. What was it that you saw that can prove that your brother and his son aren't guilty?" Grandgale pointed to Hotstreak and said, "This little bot right here is the one who told Grandfire that a black bot attacked Spitfire and Thunderbird." Armorhide said, "A likely story, but I want proof that Grandfire Prime didn't kill that bot lying on the ground!" Grandgale threw a video camera at Armorhide. She then said, "Your proof is recorded in that. Now drop the charges on Grandfire and Spitfire and let us go on our way." Armorhide looked at what was recorded on the camera and said, "Fine. The charges are dropped and the two of them are free to go." Grandgale said, "Thank you." Hotstreak and Thunderbird ran to Spitfire. Grandgale walked up to me and said, "This is another problem that I had to help you with. Is there any place that you won't need my help with at all?" I chuckled and said, "Maybe. Maybe not. Only time will tell." She and I walked with Spitfire and his family back to the base. When I walked in, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at me. Then Ultra Magnus walked up to me and said, "Hand over the Matrix." I asked, "Why? What did I do?" Magnus said, "You are not worthy of knowing its' knowledge. You are no longer a Prime."

I said, "Optimus passed this great relic to me. There's no way I'm going to dishonor his decision." Magnus said, "I've asked you, now I'm telling you, give me the Matrix!" I said, "No." Magnus pulled out his gun and had the barrel pointed at my faceplate. He said, "I don't want to do this but you're leaving me with no other options." Grandgale walked right up to Ultra Magnus and slapped him across his faceplate. Everyone was stunned by that. Magnus lowered his gun and stared at Grandgale. She then said, "I can't believe that you believe that load of slag that was bought as the real thing! My brother didn't kill anyone that didn't disserve it!" I said, "No. If they want to believe what they heard, then so be it." I grabbed my Autobot symbol and yanked it off with one pull. I threw it in front of Magnus and said, "I'm no longer your comrade. I'm not going to the Decepticons that are still out there, but you can consider me you worst nightmare." I walked out the door and took off into the air. I left the planet of Cybertron to find out who it was that framed me for killing Dreamcaster. As I approached earth, I noticed something wrong. There was one more satellite than there should be. I flew in closer, then drew my sword to deflect a blast from the satellite. Then the satellite transformed into an even uglier version of Soundwave. I said, "Long time no punch, Soundwave." He only said, "You're no longer welcome on Cybertron." I was stunned. I said, "News travels fast I see. Tell you what, you're coming with me back to Cybertron so we can see if you're the one who showed a false feed of my fight with Dreamcaster." Surprisingly(not!), he attacked me. He charged at me and I delivered a hard punch to the face which caused him to go into stasis lock. I grabbed him by the collar and flew back to Cybertron to see if Magnus could get the information out of this hunk of junk. As I came in to the air space around Cybertron, Magnus came up in his private spaceship. One of the airlocks opened and I flew inside. After the air pressurized, I was led to a smaller version of the council chamber on Cybertron. I saw Magnus, Preceptor, and Armorhide in three different seats. I threw the still unconscious Soundwave in front of me and said, "You can get all the proof you need to prove my innocence." Armorhide said, "Yeah right! There is no amount of evidence that can prove that you're innocent!" Preceptor got out of his seat, walked over to Soundwave, literally plugged into the back of Soundwaves' head. He then pulled out a gun and pointed it at Armorhide. Preceptor said, "That's not Armorhide! He's an imposter!" I drew my sword and Magnus had his gun ready to fire. Armorhide laughed evilly and said in a familiar voice, "It took you long enough. Yes. I only used this form to get Grandfire away from this planet for good. But it appears to have failed." Armorhides' body then changed into Scourge, the bane of my vengeance for Optimus' murder. He said, "I'm glade that you all managed to prevent me from having the Matrix, but there's more than one way to resurrect my master. And no, It isn't Unicron." He laughed, blew a hole in the roof of the room and flew out into deep space. The three of us put our weapons away. I asked, "What did you do to the others?" Magnus said, "I confined them to their rooms." I let out a sigh of relief. I then said, "I hope you learned your lesson Magnus. I'd hate to see what Grandgale might have done than a slap to the faceplate!" Magnus rubbed his left cheek and said, "Don't give me any ideas." I even heard a snicker from Preceptor. As Magnus' ship came in for a landing, there was a crowd of Cybertronians that didn't look too happy about me being back on Cybertron. Ultra Magnus, Preceptor and I walked through the crowd. After the three of us got through, I asked, "Where's my sister, my son and his family?" Magnus said, "Level Three. Second door to the right." Before I could go into the building, my scar started to hurt. I started to look around franticly for the Decepticons. Then an eerie, evil laugh drowned out the rioters. I looked back and saw another impossibility. Granddarkness hovered over the rioters and said, "The hate, the anger, it is all fuel for my power. And just so you know, my weaker half, I can change my shape and form with the darkness to be anyone. In case you didn't get that, I am the one you call Scourge, and I will be the one to destroy you all!" Then, dark energies started to come out of the rioters and headed to Granddarkness. He was growing stronger and stronger the more hate and anger there was at me. I said, "All of you, STOP! You're all making the bot right above you more powerful!" One rioter said, "Sure we are! The only bot I see is a traitor who stole the Matrix from Optimus Prime and killed him before he could tell anyone the truth!" I was starting to get angry myself. I was doing my best to remain calm, but I was getting angrier and angrier by the nano-click.

Granddarkness said, "Your anger is the most exquisite. The more angry you are the more powerful I become so that I may sever the bond between us!" Then, something weird happened to me. Flashing through my optics was data on how to perform a move that I didn't think I could use. I looked to Granddarkness and said, "You want my anger?! Well then take it!" My right servo glowed a fire-y red and gold. I yelled, "This servo of mine burns as it roars!" I leapt at Granddarkness, "Its' burning pride is ordering me to defeat you!" He saw me coming and actually looked scared. I thrusted my servo at his faceplate and yelled, "Take this! Burning Finger!" My fingers wedged themselves into different spots on his faceplate. He grabbed my right arm and smiled. Then he turned into shadows and surrounded me. In my subconscious, Granddarkness and I were fighting each other. I have to admit, he'd gotten a lot stronger than I remember. He said, "I have gone through rigorous training to strengthen my body to the point where I can destroy you. Face it, you're alone here." Then, I felt a sudden warmth resonating from my chest. I looked down and saw that it was the Matrix that was causing the warmth. Then I heard Optimus say, "But he isn't alone." Both Granddarkness and I turned in the direction of Optimus' voice and saw that all the past wielders of the Matrix was like an audience for me. Then I saw my friends and my family join the crowd. I smiled and looked back at Granddarkness. He had fear in his optics. I said, "You'll never be stronger than me so long as I have a family and friends to back me up. Strength of the body is nothing compared to the strength of the heart." Granddarkness said, "HA! We are machines. We have no 'hearts.' Just sparks." I said to him, "I was once human. So I know the feeling that is there when you have a heart." Granddarkness went wide opticed. Then I was able to push back at his onslaught with ten times as much force. Then, we entered the real world again. I looked around and saw that everyone knew that I didn't kill Optimus and that his decision wasn't a wrong one. I looked in front of me and saw Granddarkness on the ground, mumbling, "The light…too bright…need a dark corner." A sudden pain shot right through my body. I ignored it and walked over to Granddarkness. I looked down at him and said, "You don't have to avoid the light anymore. For your half-brother will make sure you see the light for what it truly is." Granddarkness looked at me surprised. Then, I couldn't ignore the pain any more. I slipped into stasis lock. I awoke on a bed in the med-bay. Wheeljack was talking to someone, but I couldn't make out the conversation. Wheeljack noticed that I was awake and said, "I'll talk to you later Rodamus." Wheeljack walked over to me and asked, "Do you feel any different?" I said, "Yeah actually. Why do I feel an empty space in my chest?" Wheeljack said, "I knew you'd be able to tell the difference. In order to repair you, I had to temporarily remove the Matrix." I quickly got up, but to suddenly lay back down because of a really big pain wave throughout my body. I said, "I must have used more power than I thought." Wheeljack said, "Actually, this is to be expected by someone using the true power of the Matrix." I stared at Wheeljack confusingly. He said, "Yes, the Matrix does give the owner great knowledge of the past. But its' true power lies deep within it. We do not know how this power awakens, or how to call upon willingly, but it is said that only one other was able to call upon the power to purify any spark." I said without thinking, "Optimus Prime." This time, Wheeljack looked at me confusingly. I said, "It's only guess." Wheeljack said, "Right…" There was a knock on the door. 'Jack said, "Come," and Granddarkness stepped in. I was startled and angry. If it wasn't for my pain waves, I'd have been on Granddarkness like cyber-bees to energon honey. But something was really off, Wheeljack didn't even pull out a weapon to attack Granddarkness. Wheeljack went to a different room to do something. I said, "Come to finish me off. Just like a Decepticon would." Granddarkness said, "Actually, I'm one of you now, half-brother." My optics went wide. I said, "I didn't know what I was saying. I was ignoring a lot of pain to talk you out of attacking me and my family." He only chuckled and said, "Well, I didn't expect you to cure me of the darkness that was destroying my very being." I said, "You have no being. You are the shadows itself." He said, "True, true. But I never would have thought that the light could be so, warming." I said, "You're still going to have to prove to me that you are good." He said, "I'm not Scourge." I said, "Big whoopee do-da day. I already knew that." He said, "Well, I can protect my half nephew from the Decepticons." I said, "Touch my son, or my wife, and you'll find yourself out of a job in life. Permanently."

Granddarkness said, "No need to get harsh on me. I just want to help." Wheeljack had re-entered the med-bay and said, "You can help by showing me your systems." Both Granddarkness and I looked at Wheeljack in surprise and confusion. Wheeljack said, "The both of you may not like it, but both of you have the same exact circuitry. And since Granddarkness can heal just by being in even the smallest amount of shadows, I'll look in his systems to repair you, Grandfire." Granddarkness looked to me and I looked to him. I gave a nod to Wheeljack and said, "I think that this will help me respect you a little more Granddarkness." He smiled a little and lied down on a medical bed that was next to mine. Wheeljack said, "Both of you are going to be in stasis lock until the repairs are complete." I said, "Take your time 'Jack. I'm not going anywhere." I heard a chuckle from Wheeljack before I slipped into stasis lock. I was looking around the area where my conciseness went to and saw Optimus. I walked over to him and said, "Thanks for the help earlier." Optimus said, "It was no problem. Though I come to you with a message from Vector Prime. He says that you'll met a new member of the Element Autobots, but she won't discover what element she has unless the one she loves is in danger of losing his spark." I asked, "Can you tell me her name?" Optimus said, "Her name is Lighter. And that is all I can tell you. Even now, your repairs are almost complete. Until you need my guidance again, farewell." I powered up from stasis lock and felt better than I ever did. I sat up and looked around. I saw Granddarkness sitting in a chair next to my bed. Either he was still in stasis or he was asleep. Some light snoring from him answered my question. Actually, I was feeling a little tired myself. I laid my head back down on the pillow and fell asleep. I awoke sometime afterwards to feel that empty gap feeling in my chest was gone. I checked to see if the Matrix was there, and was relieved to see it was there. I looked around and saw that someone brought me back to the room that Grandtide and I share. To my right was a nightstand that had a data pad that had a report in a single new recruit. I read the description about this Autobot to see that, according to this report, this femme didn't know what her powers were and that the only thing she remembers is that she was told to join the Element Autobot fraction of the Autobots. I got out of bed and headed to the location where this femme should be. I kept on reading the report and read that this femme had white armor and ice blue optics. She had wings that could even make Grandtides' wings belong to a devil. I also read in the report that the only other thing she could remember is her name, Lighter. I lowered the data pad and thought to myself for a moment to ponder what Optimus said. I mumbled, "Optimus said that she won't know what her powers are until she sees the bot she loves is close to losing his spark. The question is, who is the bot that she loves?" I came around a corner and then quickly hid behind the corner I just turned. I peered around and saw a femme matching the description that was for Lighter. I watched as she carefully hid herself from my half-brother Granddarkness. I smiled and wondered if I should scare Lighter by saying that she liked someone like Granddarkness. Then the base shook violently. I said, "Element Autobots! Transform and soar high!" I transformed into beast mode and flew out of a roof hatch. I looked below me and saw a yellow dragon, a tri-colored green griffin, a black wolf, a blue lioness, and a pure white wolf. I looked in front of me and saw that Astrotrain had gotten out of the stockade somehow. He noticed me and the others and yelled, "NOW!" That's when the whole pit broke lose. Everywhere there was lasers firing, and explosions as far as the optic could see. I transformed to robot mode, had Bankai drawn and was about to strike at Astrotrain before I saw a black as midnight javelin soar right at Astrotrain. He caught it and then I heard Granddarkness yell, "Perce on through, Zakon!" The javelin turned into shadows and flew toward Granddarkness, who was also in robot mode, hovering next to me. The shadows turned back into Zakon and Granddarkness asked, "Mind if I join this little dance?" Astrotrain said, "Sorry Grandfire. I'll take care of you after I'm done with this one first." I felt a sudden pain shooting through my left wing and I started to fall to the battle below. I managed to land on my feet. I looked up again and saw that Astrotrain was grasping Granddarkness by the neck. He let go of him and Granddarkness fell and landed hard on his back. Lighter was the first to reach him. She knelt on one knee and lifted his head gently. He said to her, "I'm sorry that it had to come to this. But always know, that I loved you the moment I saw you." His optics powered down. His body went limp. Lighters' optics went white.

I looked up to Astrotrain and was about to unleash the pit on him. But someone put their servo on my shoulder. I turned around and saw Lighter, surrounded in a feint white aura. She was shaking her head. She said, "I'll handle him. You get these other bozos. What Astrotrain did just made this battle personal." I looked to Granddarkness and saw that he was still breathing, but it was erratic and shallow. I said, "Grandthunder, Grandtide, get Granddarkness back to the base and have Wheeljack and Preceptor repair him as best as they can. Grandgale, You're going with them as backup, incase some Decepticons take advantage of this predicament." The three of them nodded and left with Granddarkness. I turned to talk to Lighter, but she was already in the air, fighting Astrotrain. Blackout and Strika were coming in on me. That's what I like about the stupid Decepticons, they never learn. I lumped up and they both ran into each other. I hovered in the air and counted how many Terrorcons that made it to Cybertron. "One, two, three…twenty-five of them," I said. I drew Bankai and flew to the closest one and everything went smoothly. As I came up on the last four Terrorcons, they seemed to have different paint jobs than the other Terrorcons. As I was about to strike at the orange Cruelock, it used its' own sword to block mine with precession timing. I looked behind it and saw a purple-ish Ravage, a yellow Insecticon, and a blue Divebomb. I asked, "You're all smarter than the average Terrorcon, aren't you?" The four of them chuckled. Wait…chuckled? I was surprised to hear the orange Cruelock say, "Yes we are. We are the individual Terrorcons that the mighty Scourge bestowed great strength and knowledge. I am called Doomlock." The purple Ravage said, "And I am Razorclaw." The yellow Insecticon, which was a femme, said, "I am Bombshell." The blue Divebomb said, "And I am Blacknight. We are now Terrorcon Generals of the Terrorcons that look like us." I heard Lighter yell from behind me. I turned around and saw that Astrotrain had also improved. He had his guns' barrel pointing at her spark chamber. I turned back around, but the Generals were gone. I held Bankai with both servos, pointed the tip of the blade at Astrotrains' gun and launched a big fireball from the tip of the blade. The fireball knocked the weapon from his servo. It landed a few feet away from him. He looked to me and saw that I had a truly fearful anger expression on. He transformed to shuttle mode and left the planet. I put Bankai away and mumbled, "Based on his direction of flight, he's heading for earth." I walked over to Lighter. I helped her get up and she was trying her best to hold back tears. Before I could ask, Grandgale came back in beast mode. I asked, "How's Granddarkness?" Grandgale answered, "He's doing great! The doc-bots said that he'll make a full recovery by tomorrow." Lighter looked surprised, happy, and relieved at the same time. Afterwards, she let the tears she was holding back to let them flow in joy. The next day, I was preparing to talk with the bots Cybertron, to tell them that me, and the fraction of the Autobots that I lead, are going to earth, to stop the plans that Scourge and the escaped Decepticons have planed. As I walked past by Granddarkness' room, I heard Lighter say, "You can't be serous? You can't go into space with the amount of damage you took from Astrotrain without taking a shuttle." I stopped and saw that the door was slightly opened. I peered inside and saw that Granddarkness was up-and-about, but he still had some bandages on. He said, "I'm fine. All I need to do is go slowly into the atmosphere when I leave Cybertron, that way none of these wounds don't open up." He pounded his chestplate hard and winced a little. I surprised them both when I said, "With an attitude like that, it's no wonder your element is shadows." They both looked at me with scowls. I said, "I'm about to address Cybertron. I've already told the other Element Autobots. You two need to be present at this meeting too." They looked to each other, looked back at me and nodded. The three of us then started to walk to the balcony. The Matrix was resonating in its' chamber above my spark. That told me that there was a new spark being developed naturally. But that confused me because in order for the Matrix to sense a natural spark is if the spark was right next to me in any direction. I looked around and saw Granddarkness confused as to what I was looking for. Then he saw the glow from the Matrix and started to look himself. Then I looked to Lighter and saw her servo on her belly. I quickly stopped looking because Lighter answered the question that was bothering me. Granddarkness stopped looking too. Though, what really got to me was that Lighter didn't tell Granddarkness about what she's going through. I think she's waiting for the right time to tell him. Note: Have Wheeljack come with us.

After the three of us reached the balcony, I noticed that there was one extra chair. I looked to Grandthunder and he shrugged. All six of the chairs had a sheet of paper with our names on them. I walked over to the extra chair and saw the name. I said, "Grainsurge? Who the blue pit is Grainsurge?" Then a very familiar voice said, "That would be me, Scar." I turned around and saw a tan-ish brown bot with wings like a vulture, a beast mode to match, and was twiddling a hunting dagger between one of his servos. I asked, "Marcos? Is that you?" He stopped twiddling his dagger and put it in his storage compartment in his left arm. He said, "You read the name card. My name is Grainsurge now, and I am part of this fraction of the Autobots now." Grandgale said, "So what took you so long to get here? You were right behind me when we went into that warehouse." Grainsurge chuckled and said, "Beats me. But at any rate. You called us up here for what reason?" I cleared my throat, turned around, and spoke into the microphone so that the Cybertronians could hear me. I said, "Bots of Cybertron. I called you all here to tell you that I, and my team, are heading for earth to stop Scourge." The Cybertronians started to mutter in concern. One asked, "If you're all at earth, then who will remain to help us here? The Matrix is now linked to the planets core. What if the core explodes while you're gone?" I said, "Which is why I'm giving the Matrix to someone that I know will take good care of it, and this planet." Everyone started to mutter again. I said, "Ultra Magnus. He will ensure the safety of everyone here." Magnus came onto the balcony and said, "I accept the Matrix and the responsibilities that come with having such a great honor." I turned around, opened the compartment in my chestplate that had the Matrix, removed the Matrix, and handed it to Magnus. I turned back and said, "I will also call out names of others that I want to come along. Wheeljack, Rodimus, Swerve, and Kup." The bots that I called were already at the balcony, as if they knew that I was going to call them. I turned to face Magnus and said, "I'll send reports about our progress on earth, sir." Magnus smiled and nodded. I turned to face Lighter and pulled out a chain mace. I said, "This will be your weapon. Her name is Brutikai and she has the same personality as you. So, do you accept this gift?" Lighter took the chain mace with a smile. I then heard Bankai said, "They will make a great team, the two of them." I said, "I know, I know." I turned to my troop and said, "Not meaning to quote Optimus on what he says, but I think that my saying won't fit with you four non elemental Autobots." Wheeljack, Rodimus, Swerve, and Kup chuckled under their breath. I said, "Autobots! Transform and roll out for earth!" The eleven of us transformed to our alt modes and headed for the ship that would take us to earth.

……

On the bridge of the ship, I was sitting in the captains' chair. I coughed a little and continued reading a report from a unknown unit on earth. When I finished the report, I looked to the ships' computerized clock. It said 23:30. In normal human time, that would mean that it was 11:30. Rodimus was at the scanning relay station. Kup was in the engine room. Swerve was at the translation station and Wheeljack was where he always feels at home, the med-bay. Lighter and Grandthunder were at a helm that was in front of me. Grandtide was with Wheeljack, helping out with her healing abilities when they are needed. Grandgale was in a holo-deck, training herself to learn more about her powers with her weapon partner, Sweep. All of us Element Autobots have weapons that can talk, but only we can hear them. That is how I knew to call my sword Bankai. Granddarkness was being given meditation lessons from Grainsurge. I looked to my helmsmen and saw that they weren't tired because they had just woken up. I said, "Rodimus, you have the bridge for the time being. I'm going to bed. When we reach earth let me know." Rodimus nodded. I got out of the chair and went to the sleeping chambers. I walked to the chamber that Grandtide and I share and stepped inside. I sat down on the bed and coughed some more. The ship we were taking had a bad engine, so we've be in space for three solarcycles now. And during that time, I felt a little worse after giving Magnus the Matrix. It felt weird because I was so use to having the Matrix in the compartment above my spark. I brought my legs onto the bed, laid my head on the pillow and powered down to sleep mode. I awoke suddenly in the middle of the night to hear myself panting. I looked for a clock and saw that it was only 3:00 in the morning. I held my head with my servo to try and came myself. I looked to my right and saw that Grandtide was deep in sleep mode. I got out of the bed and headed for the cafeteria. Maybe some warm energon will help.

As I passed the door to the cargo-bay, I heard something drop and a familiar voice say, "Shoot!" I stepped in front of the door, it opened, I stepped into the cargo-bay, the door shut behind me and I looked around. I coughed a couple times and started to walk around the room. Every so often, I looked to my right, then my left, then straight ahead. I said, "You won't be able to hide forever. Sooner or later I'll be able to sniff you out." From behind me, I heard a box creak under weight. In under a nano-click I had disappeared and reappeared behind the intruder in a burst of flames. But what I saw shocked me. Airrazer had somehow snuck on board. She turned around, startled. I asked, "What are you doing on my ship?" She responded, "You honestly think that I was going to allow Grandthunder to go to the old base without me?" I turned for the door and said, "You're lucky I was able to recognize you, otherwise, I might have done something Decepticon like to you." I stepped out the door and headed for my room.

……

After he saw Airrazer leave the cargo-bay, Wheeljack stepped out of the shadows of the catwalk and put both servos on the railing and leaned on it. He narrowed his optics in curiosity.

……

In the morning, I awoke with a splitting headache. I held my head with my servo and said, "Man, do I feel like the pit." I got out of bed and walked to the door. I stopped just as the door slide open. I didn't hear the hum of the engine. I couldn't smell any oil in the air. I said, "We must have landed." Grandgale surprised me by saying, "Good morning Simba! Welcome back to our home called earth!" She tackled me in the side with a hug that caused me to fall. I said, "I didn't need that welcome from you," with a strain in my voice. I coughed some more, only this time, they were really bad. Grandgale got off of me and said, "Have you seen Wheeljack about that? It sounds like you're not doing so well." She helped me stand up and I said, "I'm fine. It's nothing but a cough." She said, "Whatever," and led the way to the landing ramp. After I got off the ship, the first thing I see is a mountain with a gold ships' engines sticking out at the base. Rodimus said, "Welcome to the first base the Autobots ever used." I turned to face him. But my vision started to falter. I shook my head and shrugged it off. When we entered the base, Wheeljack said, "I want all of the Element Autobots to come with me to the med-bay." The seven of us followed him and once the door was shut, Wheeljack faced me and said, "You're not feeling well, Grandfire." I said, "It's just a cough. It never killed anyone." He said, "If that's what you say." I left the med-bay without another word.

……

Once Wheeljack was certain that Grandfire was out of hearing range, he turned to the rest of the group and said, "I want the six of you to keep an optic on Grandfire. He says that he's fine, but I'm having second thoughts." Grandgale said, "I can handle that myself. I've known him since we were human the longest. I don't need anyone's opinion about my brother." Grandtide said, "Well I'm his wife, so there's nothing you can say that won't stop me from helping you." Wheeljack said, "This isn't a debate. I need all of you to watch him and report anything that looks and sounds like he's getting worse." Everyone looked to him. He said, "You're all excused but Lighter." The five of them left the med-bay. Wheeljack said, "Don't assume that you could hide your condition from me, Lighter." Lighter looked away in embarrassment and asked, "How long did you know?" Wheeljack said, "Since day one. You're talking to a professional in medical know-how."

Lighter's cheeks flushed red. She said, "Don't tell Granddarkness. I want to tell him myself. But, I don't know if I have the confidence to tell him right now. Maybe I should tell him once everyone is settled down?" Wheeljack said, "That's your decision to make, not mine." Lighter stopped blushing and nodded. She left the med-bay to help the others.

……

It's been one decacycle since we arrived on earth and we still haven't found Scourge. But there is some more bad news; I'm really starting to think that there might be something wrong with me. But I am a leader and leaders need to stay strong. But if my team sees me cough up energon, they'll think something is very wrong with me. I'm sitting outside with my wings unfurled, to help warm me up some more. Lately, I've be feeling cold. Which is strange because I'm suppose to be able to control the element of fire, which is suppose to make, and keep, me warm. I was staring out into the ocean, marveled at its' glory.

Grandtide had her arms around my chestplate. Her head was balanced on my left shoulder. Her wings were on top of mine, which felt warm to my wings. She was looking out at the ocean with me. She said, "The ocean always looks so beautiful with the sun beaming down on it just right." I looked to her. I smiled and chuckled. She looked to me and asked, "What's so funny?" I said, "Nothing. Its just that, well, I'm married to the most beautiful part of the ocean." She giggled and said, "Stop that." I couldn't help but laugh. But my laughter was cut short for a really bad cough escaped my mouth. Grandtide let go of my chestplate and backed away. She folded up her wings. After I was done coughing, I folded my own wings, stood up and turned to face her. She said, "Those coughs are getting worse and worse. You need to see Wheeljack." I said with a growl, "I'm fine! I don't need anyone to look at my systems to tell me that I'm ok!" She stared at me in the optics, scared. I said in a gentle tone, "I didn't mean to snap at you." I walked over to her, lifted her head gently at the chin and kissed her. I then said, "You don't need to worry about me, ok? I will see 'Jack if I need to." She said, "Ok," in a tone that didn't sound too convincing. I decided to head back to the base.

……

Grandtide looked to Grandfire and cursed under her breath. She hated to keep secrets from him, but this was for his own good. She took out a cloth from her storage compartment in her arm. It had the stuff Grandfire coughed up and had tried to hide from her. She took out a small scanner and turned it on. She slowly swept the scanner over the cloth. But halfway through, it gave her a completed reading. She read the reading and dropped the cloth. "No. This thing has to be wrong. There's no way he could cough up this after be a machine for so long," she said sadly. The scanner told her that Grandfire was coughing up, not energon, but real human blood.

……

Wheeljack shut off the monitor after hearing Grandtide's report. He had all the proof he needed now, but he needed to get Grandfire in the med-bay. He turned on a different monitor and a conversation was started with Rodimus. Wheeljack said, "I've just gotten Grandtide's findings. Now I need you to do your job." Rodimus nodded and cut the connection. Wheeljack said, "I just hope it won't be too late."

……

As I was walking to the cafeteria, I had a fairly hard time breathing and my spark felt like it was on fire. I saw that Kup was in my way. I took a left turn and then Swerve was in my way. I turned back around, but now Rodimus was in my way. I was getting ticked off by them. Then I felt something small and sharp puncture my neck. I then felt very sleepy.

……

After Wheeljack got help, from the other Element Autobots, he got Grandfire hooked up to a bunch of different monitors. The six other bots under Grandfire's command were there as extra help, if he needed it. After Wheeljack was done looking at Grandfires' opened panels, he said, "Just as I feared. His systems are going into shock because they were so use to having the Matrix being part of his sparks' normal functions." Then a monitor went off. Wheeljack rush over to it and was really scared now. He turned to the others and said, "We've got less than one and a half megacycles to make a substance to fix him!" Wheeljack then began telling the others what to do. After he quickly made a green liquid, he said, "Grainsurge, stay on thins monitor and tell me how much time is left." Grainsurge rush over to the monitor and said, "We've got thirty nano-clicks!" As Grainsurge counted down the time, Wheeljack lifted Grandfires' head and poured the liquid down his throat. But it wasn't taking immediate effect. Grainsurge powered down the monitor and said sadly, "We're out of time." Wheeljack said, "We…we were…too late." Grandthunder punched the door and curse one particular human curse. Granddarkness said, "The shadows weep in pain." Lighter said, "The light cries in agony." Grainsurge said, "The very earth itself is sad." Grandthunder said, "The lightning strikes in sorrow," before walking out of the med-bay. Grandtide, how took the lost the hardest, said, "Even the rain sheds tears," before tears of her own started to stream down her cheeks. Grandgale said, "The winds howl in agony." Grandfires' body started to turn black at the red parts and grey at the orange parts. Grandtide walked up to Grandfires' lifeless body and leaned closer to his lips. She then kissed Grandfire for the longest time she could remember on the lips. Tears ran down him.

Grandgale put a servo on Grandtide's shoulder. Grandtide stopped kissing Grandfire and looked at Grandgale. Grandgale had tears running down her cheeks, just like Grandtide. Grandgale said, "We have to be strong, you and I. So that way we can help protect the others that we care about." Grandtide whipped some of the, still streaming, tears from her optics and nodded. Grandtide stood at full height and started to walk out with the others. But before she reached the door, she heard Wheeljack said, "Come on you piece of junk! Turn off!" She turned around and saw that the monitor the kept track of Grandfire's spark pulse was still on. She started to turn away, but heard a BEEP come from the monitor. She quickly turned back to the monitor and saw, for a moment, a tall arched mountain in the middle of the screen. She then saw two of these arches with two BEEP's to go with them. The arches came smoothly across the screen. She yelled to the hall, "Everyone! Come back!" She turned to Grandfire's body and saw one servo twitch. The door slid open and Granddarkness said, "I've seen enough of his lifeless shell. What could possibly be so…what the?" Granddarkness and the others saw Grandfire's servo twitch. Then a light came from Grandfire's open spark chamber. Then everyone saw the tears rise from where they fell on the floor of the med-bay that were made by Grandfire's friends and family. They went to the light and started to turn into a new spark for him. But the only tears that didn't go into the new spark were the ones made by Grandtide. Grandtide finally stopped crying, but she had one tear left on her cheek. She let it get on her finger. She walked over to the incomplete spark and placed her finger above the spark and let the tear drop into the spark. It formed the final atom for the spark. The chamber doors closed, but Grandfire didn't power up. Grandtide somehow knew what she needed to do. She looked at Grandfire's faceplate and leaned closer. She could actually feel her spark pulse being in tune with Grandfire's spark pulse. She back away for a small moment, then swallowed her pride and kissed Grandfire on the lips. Then, some mysterious force pushed her away from Grandfire. She back peddled and lost her balance. Before she fell, she felt someone catch her. She looked up and saw Grandgale, still staring at Grandfire's body, but yet knowing that Grandtide was caught by her. Grandtide looked back to Grandfire's body and saw the color returning to his armor. She saw a glow from his optics. Then, all at once, the glow stopped, the room looked normal, and the monitor finally turned off. Grandgale helped Grandtide get to her feet. Then, they all heard a groan coming from Grandfire.

……

I sat up and put my servo on my head. I powered up my optics and saw that I was in the med-bay and I had wires sticking into opened panels around my body. I grabbed the wires and pulled on them. I then closed the panels that were open. I looked to my right and saw that the other Element Autobots staring at me. I said, "You all look like you've seen a ghost." Grandgale came up to me and slapped me across my faceplate. I said, "OW! What was that for?" Grandgale said, "Don't you ever scar me like that!" She started to tear up. I haven't seen her like this in a long time. I looked to the others and asked, "What happened that has you all so worried?" I heard Wheeljack say, "This…this is impossible! You should be offline right now!" I looked at him, shocked. Grandtide said, "Love has a way with things. Like bringing back the ones you love the most." She walked closer to me and placed a servo on my faceplate. She was starting to tear up. I asked, "I went offline?" Grandgale nodded. I then said, "And you brought me back. Grandtide, I…" She placed a finger from her other servo on my lips. She said, "I don't want to hear it right now. All I want to do, is love the bot I married, more than ever, because I know that I was able to keep our love alive, with your revival." I asked, "Where's Shaun?"

……

Lighter felt something in the back of her processor get triggered by hearing the name 'Shaun.' She then had a vision. In it, she was approaching a building called, 'Lake Forest Chipman School.' She felt nervous about this school. But she saw a human boy, about her height, walk outside to meet her. This human boy had tan-ish brown curly hair. He was wore a sky blue shirt with a collar on it. He was wearing blue jeans and white shoes with brown on them. The boy held out his hand and said, "Welcome to Chipman. My name's Shaun. What's yours?" She held out a human hand and was about to say her name, but the vision ended before she could say anything. She looked around and asked, "I used to be human? But how is that possible?"

……

The six of us stared at her. But I quickly changed the subject. "Where's Grandthunder? I was expecting a hit to the back of the head from him." Wheeljack said, "After he put a dent in the door, he stormed off somewhere outside of the base." I got off of the medical bed and said, "I'll be back," as I popped my knuckles. As I was about to leave the med-bay, Grandtide said, "Wait! There's something I want to mention to you!" I turned to see her and asked, "Can it wait till I get back?" She sighed and said, "I guess." I smiled and said, "Don't worry. I'll make sure he and I come back in one piece," And ran out of the med-bay.

……

After Granddarkness saw Grandfire leave, he said to Lighter, "I know it's rude to talk to a femme about their figure, but are you eating alright?" Lighter tried not to look him in the optics and asked, "What…what do you mean?" Granddarkness pointed to Lighter's stomach and said, "For as long as we've been here, I've noticed that your belly is getting slightly bigger. And when we're in battle, you try to keep the enemy from hitting your stomach. Your powers also seem to be behaving differently." Lighter was still trying not to meet his optics. Grandgale and Grandtide walked up to Granddarkness and smacked him in the back of the head. He quickly put both servos where he was hit, turned to the two femmes and asked, "What the blue pit was that for?!" Grandgale wagged her finger and said, "You were right about it being rude to talk about a femmes' figure, especially when you're talking to a femme about it." Granddarkness and lighter blushed beet red. Granddarkness from embarrassment, and Lighter for the same reason, but because she still doesn't have the courage to tell Granddarkness.

……

As I was flying above the mountains of the Himalayas, I was looking for ant sign of Lightning Rod in this area. I said, "I've looked in this area for three megacycles. I should check a little closer to the base." When I arrived at the base some six megacycles later, I saw a array of lightning rise from the earth. I took off again and saw that it was Static Cling himself making those light shows. I landed quietly on the ground and hid myself as best as I could. I could hear Grandthunder panting and saying, "I will not allow any more of my friends fall. I will become stronger than Unicron himself if I have to!" Then he preformed a move that surprised me. His right servo started to turn gold and electricity danced around his servo. He said, "This servo of mine is full of power! This great power tells me to destroy you!" He turned in my direction. I was hiding in a tree, so he couldn't see me. He charged at the tree, thrust his servo at the tree and yelled, "ELECTRIC FINGER!" His servo went right through the bark of the tree and then some! The tree fell, I fell on my back with a thud and he didn't seem to notice. I got on my feet and saw him still staring at the horizon, completely oblivious of my presence. I walked up to him and put my servo on his shoulder. He jumped a little and turned around. I said, "I think you already are stronger that Unicron, Scale Belly." He blinked a couple times and rubbed his optics. He stared at me, as if he couldn't believe it. He grabbed my tail and pulled on it. I sounded like a cat being stepped on by its' tail. I said, "That hurts!" He let go of my tail and said, "I know. This is better than a slap to the back of the head." My tail swayed a little. "At lest a smack to the head wouldn't hurt as much. My tail's going to be so sore of a long time." Grandthunder laughed and said, "Sorry!" I jokingly punched his arm and said, "No big deal. But I get a chance if you come back from offlinement." He said, "Deal." The two off us flew back to the base. He and I landed and Grandtide and Airrazer were there to greet us. Airrazer went to Grandthunder with a kiss and said, "You have no idea how worried I was!" Grandthunder said, "Worried about what? I can take care of any Decepticon that comes my way." The two of them started to argue with each other over Grandthunder's fighting abilities. I walked over to Grandtide and asked, "Now, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Grandtide said, "In a few quartexes, it'll be Christmas again. And hopefully, it'll be our first one without anything weird happening to us." I thought back to when Soundwave trapped us on my first Christmas as a transformer. And when a guy called Headmaster took my body out for a stroll in New York, and nearly caused the Autobots to leave earth. I said, "The chances of that happening are slim to none," with a shrug. Grandtide said, "Well then. We'll have to pray that it'll be the slim chance."

I smiled at her positive reasoning. She and I walked into the base, talking about the day's that were to come.

……

It was three solarcycles till Christmas Eve and I had already found, or rather, made something, for Grandtide. It had also stopped snowing. During the period that led up to this point, I saw Granddarkness trying to figure out if Lighter is eating alright or if it's something more than that. But today, he wasn't trying to see what was going on with Lighter. He was standing outside, looking at the horizon. Grandthunder came up to me and said, "How 'bout you and I try to get Gloom-And-Doom into the whole spirit of things with snow." He and I looked at each other with maniacal smiles on. He and I tiptoed outside and found a good spot to hide from Granddarkness wile we peg him with snowballs. Grandthunder threw his first. It missed. I said, "Nice shot, Fish Skin. You missed!" He said, "Wait for it…" I looked back to where he threw his snowball. It hit a pipe that was connected to a part on the top of the base. Then a bunch of snow landed on Granddarkness. Grandthunder and I high-fived each other. But when I looked back, Granddarkness wasn't even touched by the snow. I then heard him say, "I can't let them think I've gotten soft." I raised an optic brow in confusion. Grandthunder heard him too and asked, "Who does he think that thinks he's gone soft? And what makes him think that he's gone soft?" I thought about it for a moment. Then said, "It's because of his feelings for Lighter." Grandthunder looked to me in confusion. "He controls the element of shadows, a element that is suppose to be hated by everything. But when he met Lighter, his emotions started to converge on each other. I'm guessing that before, he was filled with hate, anger, and aggression. But he's now feeling different emotions in that pool of his. It looks like he doesn't know what to feel anymore." Grandthunder thought about what I said and came to the same conclusion. He then put on a different kind of smile that would make Medusa afraid. He looked to me and said, "I've got a plan," and started to whisper his plan into my ear.

……

Lighter was holding a letter from Granddarkness, asking her to meet him in front of the base. As she was walking, she thought to herself about how to tell Granddarkness about her current state. When she arrived at the entrance of the base, she hid herself so that she wouldn't have been seen by Granddarkness, who was just outside of the base's entrance. Her spark was pulsating faster than it ever had. She felt oil sweat trickle down her forehead. She remembered when Granddarkness was badly hurt by Astrotrain and caused her powers of light to awaken. He was badly damaged and she felt something different about him when he was like that. It was as if she had feelings about him than more then just being comrades. She peered around the corner and saw that Granddarkness was still there, but he had a note that looks like the one she got from him. She ducked back behind the corner and swallowed her anxiety.

……

Granddarkness heard something from behind him. He turned around and saw Lighter approaching him. He couldn't tell why his spark pulse was picking up on speed. He turned back to the slowly setting sun on the horizon. The sky looked like it was set on fire because it was so beautiful. He looked to his right and saw Lighter marveling at what he was looking at. Then, with no warning, he said, "This scene reminds me so much about you." He quickly put both servos over his mouth. He stepped to the side a little and looked to Lighter. She was blushing slightly. But you couldn't tell because of how the sun was reflecting off of her white armor. Granddarkness then felt his own faceplate starting to warm up. He moved his servos to behind his head and laced his fingers. He stepped a little closer to Lighter, ever so slightly. When there was only about half an inch between the two of them, he stopped. He was wishing that he didn't leave Zakon back at his room. He felt his faceplate grow a little warmer. Lighter unfolded one of her beautiful white feathered wings a little. Granddarkness instinctively started to unfold one of his midnight black feathered wings. Her wing touched the back of his wing. His spark shot into his throat. His faceplate felt red hot. He then heard Lighter say, "I was thinking about what you said to me, before you went into stasis lock, a long time ago." Granddarkness looked to Lighter. "I also loved you the first time I saw you." Granddarkness felt like he was going to pass out. He moved his servos back to his sides and kept on watching the sunset.

……

As Grandthunder and I watched Granddarkness and Lighter enjoying the sunset, I said, "Your plan seems to be working so far." He said, "Just wait for it." But something didn't seem to feel right with my early warning systems.

……

Granddarkness could feel his servo getting closer to Lighters. His faceplate was really hot now. As his and Lighter's servos held each other, he heard something like a low growl. Then, from the blanket of snow, a Polar Bear leaped at them and tried to hit Lighter. But a sudden flash of fire took the claw swipe instead.

……

As I fell backward, holding my right optic, I heard the over grown teddy bear say, "Well that was really unexpected. But my mission was to prevent the white femme from continuing to harbor the currently developing protoform." Granddarkness and Lighter had already stepped back the moment I appeared. Granddarkness stood in front of Lighter and said, "Over my sparkless shell!" Bear Boy looked to Granddarkness and said, "You're way out of your league if you think you can stop me. And the name's Polarterror." He transformed to robot mode, walked up to Granddarkness and used his extended claws to bat away Granddarkness like a rage doll. He twisted in midair and landed on his side, with a three toed claw mark on his left shoulder. I myself didn't avoid damage. If you were to look at my right optic, you would see a big 'X' on it. I saw Polarterror lift his left arm at Lighter. His left servo was that of the head of his beast mode. I saw white static being channeled into the open mouth. Polarterror laughed and fired his laser at Lighters stomach. I blanked out after that.

……

Granddarkness painfully adjusted himself to see Lighter against the wall of the base and a lot of damage to her stomach. He saw Wheeljack come out of the base and stated to repair Lighter. She asked him something, but Granddarkness couldn't hear what she asked. Wheeljack gave a slow shake of his head. He looked to where Grandfire was and saw his super mode aura surrounding him. But it looked stronger than before. Granddarkness saw Grandfire's claws grow longer than usual. And his teeth seemed longer and sharper. The snow around him looked like it was evaporating as it rose with the aura. Then Grandfire ran so fast at Polarterror so fast he didn't leave any prints in the snow. Polarterror turned around just as Grandfire sunk the claws on his left servo into Polarterror's neck. Polarterror couldn't breath and energon was dripping from Grandfire's servo. Granddarkness then got a good look at Grandfire's optics; they were white at the pupils and black where there should be the optic's natural color.

……

Grandtide was running to get to the entrance of the base. Behind her was Grainsurge and Grandgale. The three of them stopped outside to see Grandfire strangling a Decepticon by the throat. Granddarkness was with Lighter and Wheeljack, all three of which, were staring at Grandfire also. Grandtide cautiously approached Grandfire. She could feel the heat from him. As she got closer, her systems felt like they were heating up. When she was right next him, she put her servo on his right cheek and she suddenly felt her body getting burned. She turned Grandfire's head so that she could see his faceplate. She said, "Grandfire, stop it!" Nothing. "Please! You have to stop! You're scaring the ones that love you!" Still nothing except his grip tightened on the Decepticon. "Please…please stop. I don't want to lose you. None of us do! Do you really want to go down that dark path again!?" Grandfire's optics turned back to normal. He released his grip on the Decepticon and his form went back to normal as well. The heat she was feeling stopped with Grandfire going back to his normal robot mode. She smiled and said, "Thank you Grandfire, for staying on the path of light." She couldn't keep herself up anymore. Her servo slipped from his cheek, she fell to her knees, then fell to her left. Before she went into stasis lock, she heard Grandfire yell, "CRIMSON END," and a small explosion afterwards. She also heard Grandfire roar like a lion in sadness, pain, agony, and rage. She thought, _Please…please forgive yourself. Don't let what happened here tear your judgment of yourself. Don't go down that path, For the sake of your wellbeing, don't punish yourself, _before she finally slipped into stasis lock.

……

After we got Lighter and Grandtide to the med-bay, Wheeljack said, "I might not have been able to get to them in time if Grandthunder hadn't called me." He noticed my still bleeding energon optic and said, "I need to repair that as soon as possible." I said, "No. Weld my right optic shut and allow the scar to remain." He said, "You won't be able to see as efficiently." I said, "I know," and left it at that.

……

After a few cycles of repairing Lighter and getting Grandtide hooked up to life support systems, he welded my right optic shut and showed the 'X' scratch on it. I was in a chair that was next to Grandtide. I couldn't stand seeing her so damaged because of what I did. I buried my head in my servos and said, "This is all my fault. If I had warned Granddarkness of what my early warning systems were telling me, none of this would have happened!" Grandtide put one of her servos on my shoulder and said, "You shouldn't blame yourself." I looked up and saw that same innocent smile she always gave me when I was getting upset. She noticed my closed optic and moved her servo to it. I moved my head away and said, "Don't. I've become a monster." She said, "You're not a monster." I looked back at her and said, "Look at yourself! All those burn marks. I caused them! I hurt you on purpose, and you still forgive me!?" She said, "It wasn't on purpose." I said, "Yes it was! I was enraged! I was angry at anything that got close to me. I allowed my flames to hurt you! Doesn't that mean anything to you!?" She was still giving me her innocent smile. "Until I learn how to control my super mode, I'm a walking time bomb, just waiting for a reason to go off." Her smile started to fade. I took out a small black box and said, "I made this myself. It was going to be my Christmas present to you, but I can't stay." I placed the box in her servo and said, "I call it, A Tear of the Ocean." I left the med-bay without even saying goodbye.

……

'Solarcycle Five: It's been five solarcycles already since Grandfire left for unknown reasons. Grandtide's recovery is going great, but she needs to remain in the med-bay until I'm certain that she's fully repaired. Primus help Grandfire; wherever he is.'

……

'Decacycle Three: I've been keeping track of every solarcycle that my husband has been away. His Ocean Tear necklace has never left the safety of around my neck since I've been fully repaired. I only wish that I'd have given him my Christmas gift to him. I just wish I knew what he is doing and help him.'

……

I was breathing hard and my right servo started to leak energon from being used to much for my training. I gritted my teeth and said, "Come on. huff-huff One more try."

……

'Decacycle Six: The Decepticons have been making it hard for everyone to think of a way to find old Fuzz Face. I suggested we lock in on his fire energy signal, but Wheeljack said that he didn't have the right components to construct a scanner like that. He's making me, his sister, Grainsurge, Lighter and Granddarkness very worried. But Grandtide seems to be taking the fact that Grandfire's been gone for less than half a stellarcycle. She's also taken a founding for a necklace that has a blue diamond shaped like a tear and lined with a gold holster.'

……

I stopped a few feet in front of the base. I took in a big breath of air and said, "Over ten long decacycles, and I've finally figured out my super mode. I can't wait to see everyone again. I wonder if they missed me." I walked closer to the base. Then alarms started to go off saying, "Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" Auto-guns started to point at me from all over the outside of the base. I stopped walking and said to myself, "Is this some form of joke? Oh well. Might as well tell them that I'm home." I looked to the base and yelled, "Hey! Rock Head! Lighter! Wolfy! Chopper Face!" Nothing. "Hmm…" Then I got an idea that is just corny enough to work. I cupped my servos to my mouth for extra loud surround sound and said, "Honey, I'm home!" The Auto-guns powered down and I saw Grandtide at the entrance of the base, tears in her optics. Let me tell you, I was tearing up myself. I was home, at last.

Grandtide came running at me. Before she was even half way to me, I vanished in a burst of flames and reappeared in front of her and caused her to skid to a halt. I surprised her even more by hugging her after she stopped. She pushed away, but we were still at arms length from each other. She asked, "Where on earth have you been for the last ten decacycles?" I said, "Like I told you that long ago, I went to train to learn more about my super mode." She shook her head and said, "You've had us all worried to stasis lock about you!" I changed the subject, "So, how have Granddarkness and Lighter been with their kid?" Grandtide said, "Polarterror did enough damage to Lighter that caused the developing protoform to…" Her voice trailed off. I said, "Oh…" I looked away. Then I noticed that she was warring the necklace I gave her for last Christmas. I said, "That jewel really makes your optics glow." She looked to me, blushing. She held out a small red box. "This was going to be my present to you." I took the box and opened it. Inside was a red gem like the one I gave Grandtide, but more shaped to look like a fire. She said, "It's called a Tear of a Fire." I looked to her and said, "Wow," and put on the necklace. "That jewel makes your…optic shine." She and I chuckled a little. I looked back to the base and saw someone that shouldn't be there. I generated a fireball in my left servo and said, "What are you doing here, Starscream?" Grandtide said, "Don't! He's one of us! Remember?" I looked to Grandtide and put out the flame in my servo. She let out a sigh of relief. But then she said with a lot of concern, "What did you do to your right servo? It looks like it was…" I hid my servo and said, "It's nothing." She grabbed my right servo and got a chance to look at it better. "What kind of training did you put yourself through to cause this much damage?" I pulled my servo from her grip and said, "Like I said, it's nothing." She looked me in the optic and said, "Nothing? Those are scorch marks on your servo!" I said, "So?" She said, "So!? You're able to control fire, which makes you impervious to fire related injuries." I tried my best to hide my servo, but Grandtide kept going with the subject. "If you think I'm just going to drop this, you've got another thing coming your way. I know you say it's nothing, but I can't help but worry about your safety." She started to tear up again. I tried to approach her, but I could see why she was in the state of worry that she is. I took a deep breath and said, "I left these marks on my servo so that I could experience what your healing powers feel like." She looked at me with the biggest smile I ever saw. She then leapt at me with a hug that caused me to fall on my back.

……

It was nearing Christmas again and I've never felt any better. I still wish that I could tell the others where I went, but I don't want to break my promise. As I was out on patrol around a nearby city, I noticed a large group of humans duck into a large alley. I was in beast mode, so it would be easy for me to land on top of one of the roofs quietly and see what's going on in the alley. After I landed and folded my wings, I looked down into the alley and saw a bunch of male humans surrounding a single human female. Upon closer inspection, the female was about five foot four, and had red hair. She was holding text books from a local high school. I smiled. I hadn't seen Sari in a long time. The males that were surrounding her didn't look all that much older than she is. Same height, same colored uniform, but something wasn't right about them. Then I got the shock of a life time when I saw that one of them had a Decepticon insignia tattooed to one of his arms. The alley looked big enough for me to jump down into it in robot mode and scare off some of the attackers. But then I saw Sari open a can of whoop-aft on all of them. I remained to see if all of them left. They did. I took off again, but after seeing that one human with that insignia, I had to let the others know about it. As I flew in for a landing, I saw Grainsurge take off out of the base in beast mode. "I didn't have anyone scheduled to take patrols after I was done. Hmm…" I landed in front of the entrance and saw Autobots running left and right, from door to door. I transformed to robot mode and walked carefully to the com room. When I entered, it was louder that a fret train going by a industrial factory. I yelled over the noise, "What is going on around here!?" Kup pointed with his thumb to a room that was plated with soundproof walls. After he and I entered the room, closed the door, and turned to face him. "I'll say it again, what the blue pit is going on?" Kup said, "We've been receiving reports from al over the earth. We're being stretched to our limits with all these calls. I've barely slept a nano-click before another call comes in from, who knows where!"

I asked, "What are these calls for." Kup said, "Ever since you said to the humans that we could help them with their emergencies, so close to Christmas, we've been getting calls to help the humans with their last cycle shopping." I rubbed my temples a little. My ear twitched. "The calls have stopped coming." Kup walked to the door and opened it slightly. "Well I'll be slaged. Now maybe I can get some recharge." After Kup left, Rodimus, Swerve, Wheeljack, and the other Element Autobots walked in. I asked, "What's the occasion?" Rodimus handed me a sheet of paper and said, "Read it." I skimmed the paper and was shocked by what I read. "You can't be serous. Why would we even agree with what this says? Wars never…" A monitor started to buzz with a call waiting. Grandgale put the call on the bigger monitor in the room and the call was from Ultra Magnus. We all stood at attention. Ultra Magnus said, "There's no need for that." We relaxed a little. "Now, I know you received the letter from a human general just moments ago." I nodded. "Then you should know what you must do." I clenched my fist. I nodded again. "I know it will be painful for you to do this, because you were once human. But what isn't noted in that letter is that somehow, then humans that are the enemy have gotten a hold of powerful mechanical suits. They are as tall as us. Some are even stronger than you in super mode." My optics bugged a little. "Since we are Autobots and not Decepticons, you must get the humans out of the suits before you destroy them." I said, "I'm sorry sir, but I'm not going to fight humans in any form of combat." Magnus said, "I'm sorry you feel that way, but I've already signed you and Grandtide up as partners in this fight and you're representing Cybertron in this fight." I opened my mouth to say something, but Magnus continued, "You are looking for this particular bot." He showed an image of, some sort of mech with the picture of a human next to it. "This will be your objective throughout the fights you will go through. Rodimus, you're in command until Grandfire gets back." Grandthunder said, "What about me, sir? I can fill in for leader while Grandfire's away." Magnus said, "Grandthunder, you do have exceptional skills with handling the roll of leader. But you're not ready to lead this big of troops quite yet." Grandthunder gave a huff and left the subject drop. "You two have three megacycles to get prepared and head out for this location." A map came up and a red dot was glowing in a spot out in the middle of a desert. "This is were you register for the following fights to come." I said, "Alright. Grandtide lets…" Magnus said, "And remove the wedding rings." I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned to the monitor and growled, "What did you say?" Magnus said, "Remove the wedding rings. If the other fighters saw the rings on your fingers, they'll take it easy on you out of regret. And we want you to fight at your peak, Grandfire. This mech and human have been giving the Autobots a bad name." I said, "Then why don't you go after him?" Magnus said, "Because he's looking for _you, _Grandfire. Why? We don't know. Yet." I removed my wedding ring from my finger and put it on the desk. "Anything else you want to throw at us?" Magnus said, "I just want to say that I'll be coming to earth and making sure the Matrix is well protected. Good luck and see you soon." The call was then ceased. I slammed my fist on one of the walls and said, "Slaget! Why doesn't he want anyone to know that we're married?! He should know that sooner or later the fighters will put two and two together!" My claws started to get longer, like my teeth. I calmed myself and my teeth and claws went back to normal. "I'm going to get ready. Rodimus, take good care of this team. And one more thing. My son is coming down in a few solarcycles to spend Christmas with us. He's bringing his family with him. Tell him that Grandtide and I were called to…do something and we won't know when we'll come back." Rodimus gave me a nod. Grandthunder put one of his servos on my shoulder. "Don't give in to your anger. It will only cause you more pain than relief." I looked to him and gave him a nod. Rodimus said, "If you could hand me your rings please? I'll make sure they stay safe till you both get back." I gave Rodimus my ring and walked out of the room. On my way to my room, I ran into Sunstreaker. He had his servo out, as a means of a servo-shake. I took it and he said, "Good luck with your fights sir. And…well, Merry Christmas." I had never heard Sunstreaker sound so serous. Or so concerned. I gave him a pat on the shoulder and said, "No worries. I'll be sure to come back. And hopefully with some great news. And one more thing, don't bug Wheeljack or anyone else for a while, OK? They've been running back and forth with useless missions and are extremely tired. So let them get some recharge."

He let go of my servo, nodded, and walked away. Once I was at my room, I started to grab things that I thought that I'd be needing. I stopped myself from grabbing anything else, knowing that I won't be needing anything that I have but my skills. I sat down on the bed and just sat there, staring at a picture I got from Bulkhead a long time ago. The door slid open. I looked up and saw Grandtide looking at me, then the picture and said, "It's not healthy to dwell on the past. Especially that far back." I looked back to the picture and said, "It's memories like these that help me remember all the great times we had together. Even the parts where I could see with both optics." I sighed and looked back to Grandtide. "So are you ready?" She nodded and said, "I'm, apparently signed up to be your mechanic." I said, "That means your going to repair me after each fight. Wow." She said, "Come on 'partner,' lets get going. You don't want to be late for registration, Do you?" I stood up and said, "No I do not." We walked out of the room, walked out of the base, and took fight to head out for the area where my first fight will be held.

……

After one and a half megacycles of flying, we found the other competitors with the mechs they'll be fighting with. Grandtide and I landed in front of a small table where the pilots of the mechs were signing up for the fights. When I approached the table, the guy sitting in it looked up at me and said, "Sir, please step out of the mech and sign your name on the clipboard." I said, "I'm fighting as is. I can't change back to human form eve if I wanted to." The guy said, "Right… Well suit yourself. You don't step out of the mech, you don't get to fight." I said, "My name is Grandfire. I should be on the list." The guy looked back at the clipboard and said, "Grandfire…Grandfire…What country are you representing?" I said, "The planet of Cybertron." The guy looked up from the clipboard and stared at me. He looked back at the clipboard and said, "Ah yes! Grandfire. Here you are. And your mechanic is Grandtide. Am I right?" I nodded. "Your first match will be in a few hours. Go and meet the other fighters. Your name will be called, so don't worry." I said, "Thank you," and started to walk away when I saw a mech that looked like a royal knight with a shield going from its' right shoulder to over its' right arm. On its' left shoulder, there were the colors to some country. "I see you've met my mech," said a voice on my left shoulder. I turned to see a human standing on my shoulder, so balanced on it even though my shoulder isn't flat enough for anything to stand on it. I asked, "Who are you?" The human answered, "I am the fighter representing France in these fights. Who are you?" I said, "I am Grandfire and I'm representing the planet Cybertron in these fights." The France fighter said, "No really. Who are you?" I said, "I just told you. I am a transformer, not a human like the rest of you." The human said, "Fine." He leapt off of my shoulder and landed on the shoulder of his mech. "By the way, you can call me the Rose Fighter." He stepped into a trap door in the shoulder he landed on and the mech turned on, as if it were in stasis lock. "The first fight will be announced very shortly, so I'd stick around if I were you." The voice came out of the mech, but it doesn't have a mouth. "All competitors, the first fight is about to begin." That voice was different from the guy with the clipboard or the Rose Fighter. "I, the host of these fights, shall name the fighters for the first fight. Fighter number one: The Rose Fighter, who is representing his country of France." Over half of the mechs here cheered for him to win. "Fighter number two: Get this, he isn't human! He's representing the planet of Cybertron, he's got the lovely Grandtide as his mechanic, he is; GRANDFIRE!" More than two thirds of the mechs wolf whistled at Grandtide and were cheering for me. I said, "Grandtide is like me, so wipe those perverted smiles from your faces you slaging dirty humans!" My anger was starting to get the better of me, but I still kept it under control. I looked back to Grandtide to see her avoiding meeting my optic. I couldn't blame her. The host then said, "Everyone but the fighters, please back away about thirty feet." The other fighters did what they were told to do. I turned to face my opponent and said, "Before we begin, I have to ask you; have you seen this bot or this human," as I held up the pictures I received from Ultra Magnus. Rose Fighter said, "Sorry. I haven't seen any mech like that or any human looking like that either." I put away the pictures and said, "No big deal. But if you ever meet either of these two, let me know. They're looking for me for some reason or another." Rose Fighter said, "Are we going to talk all day or are we going to fight, 'cause I'm ready to go."

I drew Bankai and said, "Can you even keep up?" Rose Fighter drew his sword, which was like a rapier. "Can you?" He and I ran at each other and clashed our swords against each other's. Then, in quick succession, he and I preformed difficult sword moves, but he was much quicker that I thought. It was probably because he had a rapier and I had a heavy sword. He leapt back, raised his right arm and "Rose Bits!" Small rose pods came shooting out of the shield that was on the right arm. "What the?!" Rose Fighter said, "My Rose Bits may look pretty, but there just as dangerous. Go!" The pods started to shoot at me. I ducked, weaved, and leapt out of the way of the blasts. I couldn't deflect any of the blasts or I might cause one to go into the stands. Rose Fighter then said, "Go! Rose Cage Formation!" All of the Rose Bits circled around me and beams of electricity went from one pod to another till they formed a round topped cage. I reached forward and got zapped by the cage when I touched it. I heard from the side lines, "Hey Grandtide, why don't you step out of that mech and come with me to my bunker where I can show you a really good time." Grandtide replied, "I'd sooner stick my head in a black hole." The Rude Dude said, "I love it when they play hard to get." I looked over to where Grandtide was sitting to see her pointing the tip of her trident at the neck of the mech the was hitting on her. Let's just say, he'd shut his mouth up after that. I took a deep breath, shut my optic and felt the fire energies course through me. I raised my left arm, had my palm facing the cage, opened my optic and I sent a powerful heat attack through the cage which binds me. The energy cage was dispersed with the pods and I was free from my cage. You know what they say about a caged tiger? We lions are much, much worse. "How were you able to escape from my Rose Cage? It's the strongest technique I know." I said, "You just need a little more practice. I have a lot of experience with cages and bindings." Rose Fighter said, "Do tell. Right after I defeat you." I said, "Sorry, I've got a really important mission to complete and I can't afford to lose to anyone. But when we meet each other in the finals, I expect a lot of improvement from you, my new friend," with a smile. He got momentarily confused long enough for me to do enough damage to say that I won the fight. Cheers erupted from the stands. Everyone saying at the top of their frail lungs, "GRANDFIRE! GRANDFIRE! GRANDFIRE!" I turned to the crowd, raised my sword in the air and said, "On this day, mark my words, I'll never lose till the championship is mine!" The cheers got even louder! The host spoke. "As of now, all of you will be fighting each other for the title of 'Greatest Fighter' in these 'Grand Battles.' You will be awarded points for each battle. 5 points per victory. 3 points per tie. 1 point per lose. If you are able to win all ten of your battle, then you're a shoe in for the finals. But if you lose more than you win, you're disqualified. The fight you just watched does not count as a real fight, merely a showing of two of the fighters you might face. Now, get some sleep. All of your matches begin in different locations. You might get the home field advantage, you might not. Rest easy, and fight hard." Everyone, including myself, cheered for the chance to fight against strong opponents.

……

Hello there. I am the narrator for these fights. But I'll only tell you the opponents for your favorite Autobot, Grandfire, as he fights his way to the top of the bracket. As you've previously read, Grandfire thought he won his first fight, which would have meant he'd have nine more to win. But this is not the case. The fight was merely a practice fight. Now on the first day of the 'Grand Battles,' Grandfire has received the location of his first fight. His opponent is much like he was when Grandfire was human. The Maximum Fighter, a New Yorker, is in these battles to find the best fighters in the world and then some. His Maxter Mech can literally pack quit the punch. But enough talking. Let's get things started! Grand Battle preliminaries set! Ready! Go!

Roar! Erupting Finger Reveled!

……

As Starscream was looking at the scanning monitor, a huge blip showed on it. He typed in some keys and saw that it was the very thing he was waiting for. He looked around him to make sure that no one sees him leave. He reset the monitor, turned it off and left the base. He transformed into his F-22 Raptor jet form and flew to the collision point.

……

In the center of the crater, where a large metallic object crashed landed in the mountain reign of the Rockies, a machine with a worn out Autobot symbol rose out of the crater and looked around. The machine was disgusted to be on a planet with such filth. It turned its' head in the direction of a inbound F-22 Raptor. The jet fighter transformed into the Decepticon known as Starscream. Starscream knelt on one knee and said, "Master. I have awaited your return for a long time." The other machine asked, "Where is Megatron?" Anger and fury could be heard in its' old wheezing voice. "Megatron was destroyed, my liege. He feel trying to find out if the DNA strand we seek was in a specific unit in the Autobot ranks." replied Starscream. The old machine asked, "And was he successful?" Starscream said, "Yes my lord. He was successful indeed. The unit is the Element Autobot that can control this planet's core, if he had the right persuasion." The old machine smiled and said, "Perfect. Just as I predicted. So he has the right genetic code to unlock 'that' form. Heh heh. Ha hahahahahahaha!" Starscream said, "Not meaning to interrupt your laughing sire, but I took notice on one other that also has the genetic code we seek." The old machine stopped laughing to stare at the knelt Decepticon. "Who else has the code?" Starscream said, "The blue one. The blue femme might also have the genetic code." The old machine creaked as it was clenching its' servo. It said, "You have done well, Starscream. Were you able to inject the two of them with the special virus?" Starscream braised himself before he said, "No, my master. I was unable to put the virus in them. They set out for the Grand Battles before I could get to them." The old machine said, "You fail me like you fail Megatron, Starscream. I will handle the mission myself now. The two of them will feel the wrath of The Fallen!"

……

"Ah…ah…ah…ahcoo!" I rubbed my nose as Grandtide and I were flying over the bay that leads into the New York Harbor. Grandtide said, "Now that's enough of that!" I turned to her and said, "I can't help it! My nose is really sensitive. You should be joining me in this sneeze party too. We both have lion beast modes." She crossed her arm and said, "At least I have the decency to hold it in." I smacked faceplate and said, "Oh Primus." I slid my servo off my faceplate and asked, "So, did you find out anything about my first opponent?" She shrugged and said, "The only thing I could dig up on him is that he's the best boxer in all of New York." I said, "Oh boy. An American Hero." I felt another sneeze coming around. I shook my head to stop the urge. As we approached the harbor bay, I noticed a giant billboard that showed a picture of me with an X over my good optic and a mech that looked like a boxer giving whomever saw it the thumbs up. The sign said on it, 'The next winner of the Grand Battles.' I lowered my head, shook it slowly and said, "Overconfident a little bit." Grandtide tapped on my shoulder. It turned to face and she was pointing to something. She and I adjusted ourselves so that we were more of a standing, hovering position. There was a stadium near Time Square. Fireworks and balloons were coming out of the top of the stadium. I said, "Really overconfident." I turned to Grandtide. "Let's go!" She and I flew toward the stadium. I turned back to her and said, "Stay low and stay quiet." She gave me a nod. We landed gracefully and quietly in the only spot on the upper platforms that could support our combine weight without creaking. The mech I was suppose to fight next was standing in the middle on the large arena that was at the center of the stadium. A human was standing on the shoulder of this mech, the fighter I'm assuming. The human held a microphone to his mouth and said, "HELLO NEW YORK CITY!!! I, the Maximum Fighter, will fight to the top and win the title of World's Greatest Fighter! And my first opponent isn't even of this world! How he got into the fights, I don't know, but he will break his promise about not losing till he made it to the top." The crowd cheered for him. I said, "That's it. I've had enough of his loud mouth." Grandtide said, "Try to keep the wings hidden in your fight. The mechs these other fighters are using can't fly." I smiled.

"I'll try not to fold out my wings." I leapt off of the spot I was standing on and landed right in front of the Maxter Mech. I stood up to my full height and said, "Care to prove you can even stand up to fire?" as scary as I could. Of course, Maximum Fighter got into his mech in a hurry and said, "You think you can scare me? I'll show you what true fear is, Tabby!" I heard Grandtide say, "He shouldn't have said that." The fighter and I then got into a boxing like fight against each other. He was able to land a sharp blow to my right shoulder, but I hit him with a well placed uppercut that knocked him flat on his back. He tried to get up, but I had Bankai drawn and had the tip of the blade at the face part of the mech. I said, "Before you give up, I have to ask you," I pulled out the picture. "Have you seen this bot?" He said, "No I haven't. And you're right, I give up." I put Bankai away and helped Maximum Fighter get to his feet. He said, "You're quite the good fighter." I said, "You're not bad yourself. I think you popped a gasket or something. Maybe a ball barring?" He shrugged. He stepped out of his mech and walked into a room. I walked off of the arena and Grandtide came up to me. She said, "I was able to rent a ship that will get us to each fight location. As long as you keep wining, we get to use it for free. And it has an area where I can do repairs if you need them." Grandtide was getting really close to my faceplate. I said in a whisper, "Remember Magnus' orders." She backed away. "Look. I don't like this any more that you do," I told her. "But we've got to keep our marriage a secrete." She said, "I know. But it's hard." I nodded, agreeing with her. But then I saw something in the highest part of the stadium. I saw a machine that didn't have any disguise parts on it and it was holding a weapon I haven't seen before. I was getting a bad vibe from it. I unfolded my wings and leapt at the machine. My right servo glowed a bright red color and fire was surrounding it. I said, "I was hoping I could use this technique on one of my opponents, but you'll do. This servo of mine burns red with power!" The heat around my servo increased. "This proud flame tells me to grasp your defeat!" I was close enough to thrust my servo at its' head. "Erupting Finger!" Before I could thrust my servo forward, a flash and a bang came from the machine. Then a sharp pain was in my left shoulder. My attack was canceled. My servo went back to normal and I looked to where I was shot. I removed a syringe from my shoulder, and it was empty. A sudden pang of pain in my right shoulder caused me to drop the syringe. I looked back to the spot where I saw the machine, but it was gone. I glided back down to the arena. I looked back to where that machine was. "What was that thing?" I heard Grandtide ask. I said, "I don't know. But I think it might be a problem." Another pang of pain hit my right shoulder. I said, "Lets get to the ship."

……

Hello again. As you've just read, Grandfire was shot at by something. What was in that syringe? Who is The Fallen? What is this genetic code he was talking about? And where exactly does Starscream's loyalties lie? You'll have to figure that out during our next fight. Grandfire is currently on his way to the desert that is in China. The Dragon Mech is his second opponent. But he will find that it'll be hard to find the real pilot of this mech. But enough talking. Let's get things started! Grand Battle preliminaries set! Ready! Go!

Scream away Starscream!

……

As I was lying on my stomach, Grandtide was repairing the damage that was done to my right shoulder. "A lot of wiring loosened up when you were hit," she told me. I said, "At least I was able to cause him to surrender. If I didn't have my speed, I would have had more than a few loose wires." Grandtide closed the panel on my shoulder and said, "That should do it. I'd refrain from over using your shoulder for at least, three megacycles." I got up and spun my right arm in slow, big circles. She then said, "I also took a scan of your systems and I found no traces of any abnormalities. Maybe the syringe was empty?" I shook my head and said, "No. There was something in that syringe. What it was, I don't know." I yawned. "Is it that late already?" Grandtide was holding back a yawn herself. I said, "Let's go to bed." She gave me a nod and we went to our separate rooms.

……

Starscream was flying quietly next to the ship that Grandfire and Grandtide were using to get from one fight area to another. He used his old powers of ghosting and phased through the wall of the ship. He remained invisible an searched for Grandtide. When he came up to her room, he phased through it too and saw Grandtide deep in sleep mode. He gently put one of his servos on her leg and used his old teleporting power to take her, and him, to the cave where The Fallen told him to take her.

……

I powered up from sleep mode feeling completely refreshed. I got out of my bed and walked out of the room. I went to the bridge to see if we had arrived yet. When I got there, I only saw sand and dunes. "We must be at the right place." I walked to the exit ramp, only to be attacked by something. I looked in the direction of the blast and saw a mech with two dragon heads near its' hands, a long metal braid and a large red gem in the center of the chest. I drew Bankai and said, "Your profile said you fight with honor. Guess not." I deflected a blast from the mech right back at him. The mech blew up once it was hit. I said, "That's not what's suppose to happen. That must have been a fake." Something was tugging at my spark. Something that felt like someone was missing. I ran back inside and ran to Grandtide's room, only to find her gone. I ran right back outside and took into the air. I searched the entire desert and didn't find any sign of Grandtide. I landed in a shady spot behind a big enough rock. I stuck Bankai into the sand close to me. Tears started to form in my optic. I buried my faceplate in my servos and said, "I knew we shouldn't have listened to Magnus' last order! Now I've lost her!" Then I heard the sound of metal. I lifted my head and saw that I was surrounded by Dragon Mechs. I pulled Bankai out of the sand and was ready to take on these lowlifes. I cut down at least twenty, but it looked like every time I destroy one of them, three more take their place. I was getting exhausted. Then I heard someone yell, "That is it! I've had enough of this!" Then a tan figure landed in front of me. I heard Vulcan machine gun go off and I saw a lot of the Dragon Mechs blow up. I looked to the figure and saw that it was Starscream. He turned his head to me and said, "Grandtide is at coordinates 9.9.1. by 8.4.9! Go to her! I'll take care of these Terrorcons in fake armor!" I said, "No. You can't handle all of them alone!" He pointed one of his Vulcan guns at me and said, "I said go to her! The real Dragon Mech is with her! She is in the cave at the coordinates I gave you! Go!" I took off without another word. Once I got to the exact spot of the coordinates, I ran inside. I called out, "Grandtide!" I waited a while, then faintly heard her call back, "Grandfire!" I ran deeper into the cave and called out her name again and again. When I finally reached the end of the cave, I saw Grandtide and the real Dragon Mech chained to a wall. I still had Bankai out, so I cut through the binds on Grandtide and asked, "Are you alright?" She looked to me and nodded. The pilot of the Dragon Mech said, "Hey! What about me?" I walked over to him and moved my blade so fast, it looked like a blur to everyone else. I put Bankai away, turned around and snapped my fingers. The bonds on the Dragon Mech shattered and the pilot said, "Whoa." I lead the three of us out of the cave and said, "We have to go back for Starscream." Grandtide said, "Why should we? He's the one who captured the two of us and locked us up like we were." I said, "He's the one who told me where you both were. We've got to save him." Grandtide started to have different feelings for Starscream now. I turned to the Dragon Mech and said, "Hold on to my arm. We're flying to Starscream's location." He said, "Alright. But after we save him, our fight will begin." I nodded and extended my left arm. The Dragon Mech grabbed it and we were in the air. As we flew back to Starscream's location, I saw that even more Dragon Mech fakes were in the area. Starscream noticed us coming.

……

Starscream was badly damaged and was out of bullets to fire at the disguised Terrorcons. He saw Grandfire and Grandtide flying in. He said, "I have no regrets." He opened his spark chamber, turned some knobs, pushed some buttons and flipped a switch. His computer said, 'WARNING! WARNING! SPARK SET ON OVERLOAD! SPARK DETONATION IN TEN…NINE…EIGHT…SEVEN…" Starscream said, "You are all coming with me to the pit! Goodbye, Grandfire." His computer hit zero and a huge explosion caught all of the Terrorcons in it.

……

Once the explosion happened, I yelled, "NO! STARSCREAM!" All of the Terrorcons were eradicated because of the blast. I landed right in front of the body that was Starscream. His spark chamber was still open. I reached in and pulled out a faceted crystal ball. Grandtide gasped. The Dragon Mech looked away. I stood there, holding the very thing Starscream sacrificed to destroy the Terrorcons. Just when I was about to have tears coming out of my optic, I heard a feint bang, then the crystal ball shattered into thousands of little shards. I looked to the feint bang and saw a partially scorched Terrorcon with a small gun. I generated a huge fireball in my right servo and threw it at the Terrorcon, causing it to be fully destroyed. I looked back to Starscream's body. I said, "He deserves a proper ceremony." I created a special fire the would never go out and didn't require oxygen. I spread it across Starscream's body and said, "You lived a warrior, and died a hero. May your spark join the Matrix, and may your story be told throughout the cosmos. Let the people think of you as a true Autobot, and not a ruthless Decepticon." I gave Starscream a salute for a long time. Grandtide did the same thing. Even the Dragon Mech joined us, even though he doesn't know Starscream. The three of us stopped saluting and the Dragon Mech said, "You have a heart of a true friend. I accept defeat." I turned to him and said, "But we didn't even fight. It wouldn't feel right to me that I won because you feel guilty about Starscream." The fighter said, "I didn't want to fight you because you might feel bad about yourself. No warrior should fight like that." I said, "Alright. But I have to ask you before we leave," I took out the picture. "Have you seen this bot?" The fighter said, "Yes I have. I saw him in Russia. He was the Bolt Mech's second opponent." I turned to Grandtide, who said, "Your next fight is in Russia. So you can ask this Bolt Mech's fighter if he knows anything else about this bot." I nodded and said, "Don't worry Starscream. Your sacrifice will not be in vain."

……

Hello again. As you've just read, Starscream gave his life to help Grandfire on his mission to find this mystery bot. But will he get the answers he seeks? Or is there another player in this? And what of this genetic code that was recently mentioned? And what is The Fallen's true objective? You'll have to keep reading to find out. In today's fight, Grandfire is pitted against the Bolt Fighter and his powerful Bolt Mech. But Grandfire seems to be off today. But enough talking. Lets get things started! Grand Battle preliminaries set! Ready! Go!

The Hidden War Within! The Secrete of the Code!

I was standing outside of the ship Grandtide rented. I was at the bow of the ship. I had my arms crossed in front of me. It felt good to have the wind blowing on me. I looked to where I got shot at and injected by something in a syringe. The funny thing was that the syringe struck me right dead center in my Autobot crest. I looked back to the sunset in front of me. On my intercom, Grandtide said, "You coming back in or what? I need to make sure your armor is cold proof." I said, "I'll be in shortly." and cut the connection. I sighed, lowered my arms to my sides and walked back into the ship. I felt a sudden, sharp pain in my processor that would not go away. Then I heard a long, irritating screech in my ears. And let me tell you, having hearing like a lion does have its' downsides. I put both servos to my ears to try and stop the noise, but it only made it louder. I dropped to my knees and yelled in pain as loud as I could, but no noise was coming out of my mouth, that I could hear. I shut my optic, hoping it would help ease the pain, but it didn't work. The next thing I know, I hear a very strange, yet very familiar, voice saying, "It's working. He'll be one of us very soon. And I will finally have the means of making the perfect elixir of life, and bring forth a new age of darkness and pain with the aid of my disciple." All at once, the voice stopped. The pain ended. The screeching was gone. I opened my optic again and saw that I was in the medical chamber. "Ow, my head. What hit me with an energon bomb?" as I placed one of my servos on my head. Grandtide was looking at the computer that was at the other end of the room. She said, "I don't understand why I wasn't able to detect this. Even with this ship's advanced tech. I'm sorry Grandfire. I really am." I looked at the computer screen and saw that, whatever was in that syringe, has already spread to my processor. And it continued to spread throughout my systems and body. But, it was slow. "How long till it's completely spread out my body?" I asked. Grandtide looked to me and slowly shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't know." I saw tears form in her optics. The ship's navigational computer said, 'Arrival in next location will be in exactly three cycles.' I said, "About time. My gears are grinding for a good fight." with a hint of anticipation. I smirked as I removed my servo from my head and headed for the exit platform.

……

Grandtide had never heard Grandfire talk like that. Something was defiantly wrong with him. She looked back to the scans and saw something. This, 'virus,' was increasing Grandfire's need for fighting and anger. But she knew that Grandfire would never let his anger get the best of him.

……

As the exit platform lowered, I saw a dark green mech and a couple of humans standing next to the mech. One was female and was dressed up like a high commanding war officer. The other was male and had more of a build to him. He had some sot of device attached to his chest. The female looked to the other human and nodded to him. He got into the mech and said, "I know what you're going to ask. He told me that he'd be waiting at the mountain that you know quite well." I said, "I don't know any mountain all that well except for Mount. Rushmore." The mech showed surprise. I said, "I've got one question. Are you ready to feel real pain?" The Bolt Mech wasn't able to see my movements. I was too fast for him. "What's the matter? Can keep up? You should know that you can't catch fire. Fire is power. Fire is unstoppable. Fire is destruction!" And yet somehow, he was able to punch me in my stomach, knee me in my chest and elbow me hard in the back. I don't know what happened after that.

……

As Grandfire lay unconscious on the ground, Grandtide was alerted by the computer in the medical chamber back on the ship. She had the computer display what it was scanning on her optic's frequency only. A small screen showed up on her sites. It showed that the virus spreading was accelerated to the point that he was completely overtaken by the virus, whatever it's suppose to do. Grandtide heard the small human female say, "That wasn't in his file we received. What the heck is he doing?" Grandtide stopped the connection between she and the computer and looked to Grandfire's body. It was surrounded by a red and black aura. Small spines went down his back and right up to the furry tip of his tail, which now had some of the hair turn into metal spikes. On his shoulders was a single spike that curved upward. The top tip of both his wings had become metal spikes themselves. The tips of his fingers had become claws that could rip through even a diamond laced wall of triple reinforced steel. His feet, which were the back paws of his lion beast mode, had grown to look more like talons, and yet, still looked like a lions' back paws. He seemed to have regained conciseness, because he stood right up. But what Grandtide saw shocked her the most because Grandfire's teeth had grown short, yet sharp, fangs that came down, out of his mouth, from is upper jaw. He opened, not only his good optic, but his right optic as well, which was suppose to be impossible. But his optics also changed. The were no longer the usual Autobot blue with red pupils, but all black except for a little bit of red, which caused his pupils to look like a cat's-eye, yet in the shape of a diamond. Grandtide was really holding back tears because she saw that same look in his optics that reminded her of that one stellarcycle, long ago, where Grandfire was completely controlled by Unicron. And he even had that same exact smile that Unicron used, when he had control over Grandfire, whenever she was hurt. Grandfire licked his lips and said, "I wonder what human energy tastes like? Only one way to find out." Grandfire drooped to all fours and leapt at the Bolt Mech. The fighter blocked the pounce from Grandfire and fell on his back. He continued to block, when Grandfire started to claw at the arms of the mech trying to get at the head unit of the mech. Grandtide had to stop Grandfire, but didn't know of anything like what has happened to him. But then she heard a familiar voice say, "Don't worry Madame Grandtide, we will make sure Grandfire doesn't kill the Bolt Fighter." Grandtide turned around and saw the Rose Mech, the Dragon Mech, the Maxter Mech and a mech she didn't recognize. The mech said, "I am very good friends with all the fighters that Grandfire has gone up against. I am the Shinning Fighter, representing the country of Japan. And I pilot the Shinning Mech." Grandtide looked to the Rose Fighter and said, "Madame is a term for married women. How did you know?" The Dragon Fighter said, "We knew from the very beginning that you and Grandfire were married. The five of us wanted to fight against Grandfire, but we knew that we couldn't just go up and fight against one of you Autobots." The Maximum Fighter said, "Can everything be explained AFTER we save the Bolt Fighter?" Everyone nodded. But Grandtide said, "No. I'll take care of it." and turned to face Grandfire. He was still trying to rip through the arms of the mech. She cautiously approached Grandfire and did something that she will never do ever again. She sent a strong torrent of water at Grandfire. She knew he would become very week, but it'll be the only way to get him to calm down. When the water hit Grandfire, he was sent to the right at least fifty feet. But he landed on all fours, without transforming. He stayed, almost like he was planted, in that spot where he landed. His gaze kept shifting from her, to the fighters, to the ship, then back to her. She took a single step toward Grandfire, and he started to growl from his stomach. She was completely terrified by Grandfire's sudden aggravation. "The fear coming from you is most delicious. I going to drain you dry of every ounce of fire energies that your fear can provide me," said Grandfire, with lust and hunger in his voice. Grandtide took another step forward, and was suddenly being circled by Grandfire. He kept his gaze on her, completely ignoring the fact that he was out gunned, out numbered, and out of class. She knew if he was hit, even by the tinniest drop of water, he would loose a lot of strength. She carefully followed his movement with her optics. She only moved her head when Grandfire walked out of her sight. He growled as he encircled her, as if figuring out what to rip off of her first. He said, "You are afraid of fire, as you should be. Fire has no weakness. Fire has no enemies. Fire can destroy all in its' path." Grandtide said, "What about water? Fire can be stopped with it." Grandfire growled deeper and said, "Water can only delay fire. It cannot stop it." He continued to encircle Grandtide. Only now, he got closer to Grandtide. She thought, 'If I could just get to the Grandfire that I know, I can stop this from getting out of hand.' Grandfire stopped only a foot in front of Grandtide. He stood up to full height and said, "Now it's time for fire to dine." He took only a single step and was so close to Grandtide. She stared at his black and red optics and tried to think of something that would be sure fire way to get Grandfire back. She thought back to when Grandfire was the original Granddarkness, and what she did to get Grandfire back. Grandfire grabbed Grandtide by the arms and prevented her from moving to get away. He licked his lips and started to move his head to her neck. This was her only chance. If she failed to do this right, then she won't get a second chance. When Grandfire's faceplate was only inches away from her own faceplate, she moved her own head forward and her lips came into contacted with Grandfire's. His optics stared at her confusingly. Then, something changed in the look in his optics. Grandfire pulled away from Grandtide and had his servos on his head, yelling in pain. He started to walk around, like he was off balance. He continued to yell in pain. He dropped to his knees and yelled out in pain to the sky before he fell on his servos.

……

I shook my head to get rid of some light headed feeling. I opened my optic…wait… "How is it that I can see out of both optics again?" Grandtide was staring at me with a mixture of horror, sadness, and concern. My stomach growled for some reason. I stood up to my full height and said, "Man, why am I hungry? My computer should tell me that I need to recharge." Grandtide walked up to me. She looked me straight in the optics and said, "They knew." I looked to the mechs. There was one more that I didn't recognize. Grandtide said, "They knew from the beginning. I can't explain it any clearer than that." I looked to her and said, "It's okay. Now we don't have to hide it." Grandtide said, "I share your enthusiasm, but how are you going to explain what you look like to Ultra Magnus and the others?" I asked, "What do you mean? Did I change?" Grandtide grabbed my arm and raised it so that I could see claws on my fingers. I looked at my shoulders and saw a single spike from both of them, and the spikes had a upward curve. I looked to my feet and saw that, yes they still looked like a lion's back paws, but they were shaped like talons. I looked to my wings and saw that the top tip of both of them spikes coming out of them. I looked to my tail and saw that some of the fur at the end of it had become laced with metal. Small spines went from the tip of my tail, right up my back. I felt something coming out of my mouth. I placed a servo on my mouth and felt two small, yet sharp, fangs. If my body had changed so much, I shuddered to think what my optics looked like. I looked to Grandtide and she said, "You can look in a mirror later. But right now," She turned to the five mechs. "SOMEONE needs to explain to us way you all wanted to fight Grandfire." The unknown mech to me, stepped forward and said, "The five of us heard that Grandfire destroyed a giant transformer called Unicron. We just wanted to see if the rumors were true." I said, "Yeah, they're true. I defeated Unicron with the help of Grandtide here. Without her, I won't be talking to you right now, as is." The five mech formed a huddle and mumbled to themselves. They nodded to each other and turned to face Grandtide and I. The, still a mystery, mech said, "We're sorry for having to lie to you. The Grand Battles aren't real. The other fighters also knew that the fights were just meant for the five of us to meet and fight you Grandfire. But what the Dragon Fighter and the Bolt Fighter say is true. The bot you're searching for said that he'd meet you at the mountain that you know quite well." The Bolt Fighter said, "May I see the picture? I want to make sure that it was the same bot I fought." I nodded and was about to get the picture, when I realized that it would be safer for the picture if Grandtide got it out and handed it to the human. I looked to her and knew what I was going to ask and took out the picture for me and handed it to the Bolt Fighter. He examined the picture and said, "He did have this color to him, but he did have parts on him that looked like they belong to a pterodactyl." I asked, "Can you give more detail than that please?" He nodded and said, "Like the two of you, he has wings on his back. His feet and legs looked like the head and neck of his, uh, beast mode?" I gave him a nod, saying that he said the right thing. He continued, "His hands and arms looked like they were the feet and legs of his beast mode. And he had the strange ability to cause ice to form around everything." I was surprised to hear that. I said, "Thank you for giving us more to work with." I looked to Grandtide, who grabbed the picture and put it away in one of the storage compartments in her arms. I said, "Well, I guess there's only one way to find out which one of us is the better fighter." I looked to the mystery mech and he saw where I was going. "I accept your challenge Grandfire." Grandtide said, "Oh Primus," with a sigh. The others backed away far enough for my opponent and I to fight without hurting anyone. "So, what's your name?" I asked. He said, "The Shinning Fighter, at your service, but not really." I chuckled a little and said, "Well then. Shall we kick this into overdrive now, or later?" His mech took a fighting stance and said, "Lets do it now." I said, "I admire your anticipation. Fine then," I took my own fighting stance. "Grand Battles!" He said, "Ready!" He and I said at the same time, "GO!" and ran right at each other, with one of our hand ablaze. This was fun.

……

Three months later

As I was walking through the base in my normal robot form, I saw Skidz and Mudflap peeking into someone's room and snickering silently. Skidz asked his brother, "Are you getting all of this?" Mudflap told his twin, "Every cycle of it." I was curious as to what they were looking at. I sneaked up behind them and saw, through the small opening in the door, Grandtide without her armor on. I changed into my demon form and said, "I'm going to give the pair of you ten nano-clicks to start running." with a growl. The two of them jumped, turned around to see me in my demon form and took off to the left. I dropped to all fours and ran after them. Skidz and Mudflap kept yelling, "We're sorry!" over and over again.

……

Grandtide had quickly reattached her armor and walked to the door. She looked to the left, then the right, then looked down and saw claw marks and scorch marks matching the shape of Grandfire's feet. She sighed. Then she heard Grandgale say, "He probably went after Skidz and Mudflap for peeking in on you without your armor on." Grandtide stepped back inside the room, shut the door all the way, lock it, and turned to continue talking to Grandgale about what she thinks about Grandfire's new form. Grandgale said, "Now, where was I? Oh yeah. I know you think that Grandfire will let his new strength and powers get the better of him. Don't. If I know my brother, then he'll only use this 'demon' form to help him protect you and keep you safe." Grandtide said, "But what if he loses control? I can't help but worry." Grandgale walked up to Grandtide and said, "He won't lose control. Trust me. If he had the courage to tell Ultra Magnus, the other Element Autobots, and your son and daughters, then he can handle being a demon." Grandtide looked to Grandgale and said, "At least he's my demon." in a playful tone. Grandgale said, "There! You see? If you keep thinking like that, then nothing can tear you and Grandfire apart." Grandtide looked to Grandgale with a smile and said, "Thanks. These talking's really help." Grandgale said, "Any time you want to vent out something, let me or Lighter know. We femmes have to lookout for each other." Grandgale walked to the door, unlocked it, and left the room.

……

I was still running after Skidz and Mudflap, even when they took the chase outside. They had changed to their vehicle modes and only increased the gap between me and them by only three feet. And I was already close enough to them to bite right down on their skidplates. Skidz said, "How many times do we have to say were sorry!?" I answered, "When you learn that others' businesses aren't yours to video tape and post on the World Wide Web!" Mudflap caused something to drop out of his back bumper. I stopped on a dime and stared at the item that fell off. I stood up, changed back to normal, knelt down and pick up what looked like a human rose. Only, it fit in my servo as if it was grown to be that big. The twins continued to drive off, not knowing if I was still behind them or not. I examined the flower really closely, but could only see that it was any other rose, other than the size thing with it. I couldn't help but take a whiff of it. Then the 'strange range' went from five, to eighteen. It smelled like ash, cinders, and freshly burned earth. Which, to me, is like the salty sent of the ocean breeze. I teleported myself into Grandtide's room and startled her. She quickly turned around and said, "Stop doing that! You all ways have me near a spark attack every time! Why the sudden teleporting?" I showed her the flower and asked, "What does this smell like to you?" Grandtide looked to me, confused. But she leaned to the flower and took a whiff of it. She pulled back in disgust. "Oh, that smelled horrible! It smelled like a oil spill in a garbage dump!" I looked to her confused. I said, "But to me, it smelled so good. Almost like it isn't of this planet." She said, "That would explain why that thing is so awfully putrid." I thought for a while. I then thought of the first mountain range I accidentally landed in. I teleported to the Rocky Mountain Range and saw more transformer sized flowers. They were arranged to look like a path to somewhere. I transformed to beast mode and followed the flower path. When they just stopped, I changed back into robot mode and looked around. Then I heard someone say, "It took you long enough to find me!" I looked to the voice, and saw the bot I was to find about the Autobots being given a bad name.

I, instinctively, change into my demon form, dropped to all fours, and growled while I bared my sharp teeth. The gray bot said, "Oh please, put those things away before you poke someone's optic out." He was unfazed by my demon form. I stood up and said, "Our discussion will be held while I'm in this form. Now, why have you been giving the Autobots a bad name?" He said, "I thought you would have at least wanted to know my name. I'm Freezeframe, thanks for asking." I gave him a stare that meant, 'shut up.' He said, "Fine. I'll answer your question with one of mine. Why did you take the one I love away from me?" I asked, "What are you talking about?" with a face to match the response to the answer of my question. He said, "Don't play dumb with me! I know that it was you that took her away from me! She was everything. Do you hear me!? Everything!" He raised his servo at me and caused ice shards to come at me from his palm. I blocked them with my tail, without moving from my spot. He was surprised at my quick thinking. He calmed down and lowered his arm. I was surprised when I saw him starting to cry. He said, "I searched everywhere for her. The tips of mountains. The bottoms of oceans. I searched them all! Then when I was told about someone going into space with a person matching who I was searching for, I immediately took the next shuttle to space. But something went wrong. The guidance systems failed on us. We lost control." I started to remember about a few stellarcycles back, there was a shuttle malfunction, and the report was that there were no survivors. "After we crashed, I blacked out. The next thing I know, I'm strapped to a table with a huge machine staring at me with no optics, just a visor. He told me that I was the only one who had survived and the reason the ship crashed was because…" He stared at me with new found anger. "BECAUSE OF YOU!!!" He leapt at me too quickly for me to dodge. He pinned me to the wall and caused ice to form around my arms, legs, tail and wings and it was creeping up my body to my head. When the ice reached my neck, it stopped. Freezeframe backed away and said, "No. It'll be too easy to kill you like that. Too slow." He formed a sharp spear of ice. "This will be able to stop you from hurting anyone else." He reared his arm back, prepping to throw the spear. But he and I both heard someone yell, "Keep off of my brother!" Grandgale landed right in-between Freezeframe and I. She was facing him and had her arms in a spread-eagle fashion. Freezeframe said, "Out of the way! He needs to die here and now!" Grandgale said, "He didn't do anything to you. When I saw the list of the people who were on that second shuttle, I cried my optics to half blindness. Josh, you don't have to be angry anymore. I'm alive." Both Freezeframe and myself were completely confused. Grandgale lowered her arms, walked up to him and whispered to him, "It's me. Victoria." When that reality hit him. He dropped the ice spear, which evaporated instantly, dropped to his knees and began to cry again. The ice around me evaporated and I changed back to my normal robot form. Freezeframe easily came up to Grandgale's stomach while he's on his knees. Grandgale hugged his head to her stomach and said, "Shh, shh. It's alright. I'm here. I'm safe." trying to calm him down.

……

As Grandgale, Freezeframe and myself were flying to the Autobot base, after calming Freezeframe down, I was starting to think that I was wrong about a lot of stuff. One of then being a good leader. I looked to Grandgale, who shot me a look saying, 'Hurt him and I'll kill you.' I pulled back to get within talking range of Freezeframe. I said, "I'm sorry for what happened. You were just at the wrong place at the wrong time. And you got the wrong impression on the Autobots. We've been helping the humans, not hurting them. It's our mission to protect them, not harm them." He looked to me and said, "I know you protect them, but me? I was filled with rage. I couldn't think of anything else but finding you and killing you. I don't deserve your kindness." He looked away in disgrace. I sighed and said, "Look. There wasn't suppose to be an eighth one of us." He looked to me and said, "Eight? I thought there was more than just eight Autobots." I said, "There is. There's now eight Element Autobots. That's what I meant." He looked away again. I said, "We won't treat you like our enemy. Just a friend who has been lost a bit too long in the forest." He looked to me and saw me giving him a sincere smile. He smiled and said, "Thanks. I'll try not to be too much of a burden." I said, "Not at all! You're not a burden, you're one of us." Grandgale flew in and said, "You're more special to one of us." Hers and his wing beats were in sync with each other. I smiled and flew out ahead of the group. "Now we all have a drive to keep on going."

I suddenly smelled something out of place. It reeked of soot, ash, and brimstone. With my demon form, I easily honed in on the source of the sent. It was coming from… I changed into my demon form and started to fly faster to the base. From behind me I heard Grandgale say, "Slow down! We can't fly that fast!" I turned to her and said angrily, "No! I will not slow down! You just need to learn how to fly faster!" I turned back to the direction of the base and flew even faster. I landed only feet away from the entrance to see flames erupting from it. I raised my servo to it and clenched my servo, thusly, completely suffocating the flames. As I began to step inside, I heard Grandgale and Freezeframe land in front of the base, panting heavily. I walked through the sleeping chambers hallway and heard banging from one of them. Without looking, I used my claws and completely ripped the door off. Grandthunder stumbled and fell in front of me. He got up and rubbed the back of his head. He saw me and bolted upright. He saw the anger in my demon optics. I yelled, "What happened?! Where's Grandtide?!" He answered, "I don't know. I was talking to Airrazer when the door shut and locked itself. The alarms said that there was a fire in the hallway. I looked at a terminal that shows everyone on the base and the fire started from your room, Grandfire." I shoved him out of my way and ran on all fours to my room. Grandtide and I still share a room, so whoever started the fire, their target was either me or Grandtide. I came to a halt to see that my room was completely burned and charred. Not even the picture Bulkhead gave me survived the fire. My anger was really climbing. Grandthunder said, "She's probably alright. Her signature was coming from her orchard." I bolted past him and ran for the orchard. Grandtide was completely fascinated with flowers that she built a orchard specially designed to grow transformer sized flowers. I skidded to a halt and saw that her orchard wasn't harmed, but she wasn't there. I heard Grandthunder panting behind me. I turned to him and said, "I thought she was here! You lied to me!" Grandthunder said, "Calm down, Grandfire." I yelled, "I refuse to calm down! We have to go out and find her! Every cycle we waste brings her closer to being seriously damaged or worse!" Grandthunder got angry with me and said, "I said…" He punched me in the stomach, then punched me with a uppercut to the lower right side of my faceplate. "Calm down!" I back peddled a little and felt something slowly dripping from my mouth. I used the back of my servo to wipe away whatever it was and saw that it was my unique energon dripping out of my mouth. I looked to Grandthunder and said, "You should not of done that." He said, "What?" I yelled, "For that, I'm going to kill you!" Grandthunder grabbed my shoulders and said, "Calm down Grandfire! Do you honestly think that Grandtide would still love you if you killed me for just trying to help you find out why she's missing!?" I had finally calmed down and said, "I'm sorry. I…just can't stand the fact that I could lose Grandtide like she almost lost me." Grandthunder let go of my shoulders and asked, "Is that why your so protective of her?" I gave him a sad nod. I was real close to tears. Grandthunder said, "Grandfire, she doesn't need your protection 24/7. She can take care of herself. You don't always have to be there for her. You're her husband yes, but you need to give her, her own space. She doesn't ask for much, just the love you gave the first time you truly kissed." I stared at him with the response he gave me. I nodded again and said, "But now she needs me more than ever, and I don't know where she is, and yet." I placed my servo on my chestplate where my spark chamber is. "I can feel her, right here." Wheeljack caused both of us to jump when he said, "I've read about it, yet haven't seen it with my own optics before." Grandthunder and I turned to him. He said, "You and Grandtide seem to have a Perfect Bond Sync with each other." I stared at Wheeljack confusingly. "Perfect Bond Sync? What's that mean?" I asked. Wheeljack said, "In a stasis pod, if you and your loved one truly love each other, and your both meant for each other, then you both obtain a rare bonding between your sparks that is called a Perfect Bond Sync. It's said that if you posses this bonding between your sparks, then no matter where one is, the other will find you." My spark rate started to clime. Closed my optics and listened to my spark. It felt like it was tugging me to the center of the orchard. I opened my optics and walked to where my spark was telling me to go. I stopped and looked down. One of the floor panels was loose. I dropped down, used my claws to grasp the panel, and lifted it up to see Grandtide in the secret chamber beneath it. I dropped the panel and jumped down into the chamber. Grandtide saw me and hugged me. I hugged her back. She flinched a little. I pulled her in front of me and asked, "What's wrong?" She was holding her left servo and said, "I cut my servo a little on one of your back spikes." She held out her servo and I saw that it wasn't all that bad. I gently and carefully grabbed her servo and said, "It's not to bad. You'll heal." I couldn't help but lick her servo. What? I'm a demon yes, but on the inside, I'm just an overgrown Furball of pure kitten. Grandtide asked, "Where's the bot that I fell in love with and married?" I smiled, changed back to my normal robot form and asked, "Is this him?" She smiled and hugged me again. I hugged her back. But I quickly pushed her away for I was feeling something different stirring within me. I wrapped my arms around my stomach, for a pain kept constant in me. I leapt out of the chamber and ran outside of the base. My demon form forced itself out and I had a urge to hunt something. My basic instincts took over.

……

Grandthunder was helping Grandtide out of the secrete chamber. She asked, "What was that about?" Grandthunder shrugged. "Let's follow him and find out." he suggested. Grandtide nodded and the two of them transformed to beast mode and followed Grandfire by sent. They followed him to a open savanna and saw a herd of zebra grazing. Grandtide and Grandthunder were in the air, hoping to spot Grandfire. But they soon realized that Grandfire blended in all too well with the colors of the savanna. Grandtide saw the zebra herd disperse and only one remained. But it wasn't moving. Grandtide and Grandthunder glided in and landed close enough to see Grandfire in his demon form, about to bite into the zebra. When Grandtide and Grandthunder were close enough, they saw Grandfire bite down hard on the neck of the zebra and they heard something of sucking sounds. They then saw the zebra start to lose muscle and skin density. The eyes of the zebra seem to melt away as there was nothing left of the zebra but a perfect fossil.

Grandfire let go of the zebra and turned his attention to Grandtide. He approached her with a lot of hunger in his optics. His fangs still had some of the zebra's blood on them. He approached Grandtide, then the hunger was gone. But Grandtide could see the still see the lust. She closed her optics. She was expecting something to puncher her neck. Instead, she felt someone's tongue licking her lion face. She opened her optics and saw Grandfire in his beast mode, not looking anything like his demon form.

……

I said, "Grandtide, I'm sorry you had to see that. But I promise, I will never, ever bit you." I licked her lion face again. "Ever." She was starting to form tears in her lion optics. She licked me back on my lion face and said, "I trust you." Grandthunder said, "I really hate to stop all this love in the air, but shouldn't we be heading back to the base?" Grandtide and I looked to him. I nodded and the three of us took off into the air and towards the base. Grandthunder asked, "What was that all about with the zebra?" I looked away and said, "When my demon form first awakened, I've been having these weird urges. I've been able to hold them off until now. I can't explain why, though. I just yearn for fire energies." Grandthunder said, "The only source of fire energies would be you, your son, or your daughter. But you ran off to the savanna. How did you turn that zebra into a fossil?" I said, "I think my demon from can turn anything that doesn't have fire energy into fire energy and then absorbs it. I can't explain it any clearer than that." Grandthunder nodded and let the matter drop. But Grandtide asked, "Does it only work on organic matter?" I hesitated to answer her. I looked to her and said, "To tell you the truth, I wanted to bite you, not the zebra." Grandtide and Grandthunder looked to me, shocked. I continued, "But I was able to get to the savanna to compensate for the need to bite you. I don't know why, but you kind of smell like fire energy." Grandtide stared at me confused. I really couldn't blame her. We were approaching the base. The three of us transformed to robot mode and began to descend. We touched down and I said, "I saw what you were growing in the orchard." Grandtide looked away, blushing. She said, "You weren't suppose to see the flowers yet. They were going to be a surprise for you." I walked up to her, kissed her on the cheek and said, "I love them either way. Like I love you." I walked into the base and started to help clean up the base from the fire damage. Wheeljack came up to me and whispered something I didn't expect. I looked to him and asked, "Are you sure?" He gave me a stern nod. I asked, "Have you told them yet?" He shook his head. I said to him, "Just be on guard. I don't know how they'll react to the news."

Wheeljack said, "You're telling me! I can only imagine how Granddarkness will react to this news. To think that Lighter could still…" I stopped him and said, "Not so loud. I don't think you want to ruin the surprise for them, do you?" Wheeljack shook his head and walked off somewhere. Grandtide asked, "What did Wheeljack tell you?" I whispered what 'Jack told me and Grandtide gasped in amazement. She said, "That is such great news! I have to go and tell…" I grabbed her arm just as she was about to go off to spread the word. "Don't. It's going to be a surprise for the two of them. I wasn't suppose to tell you, but you are my wife." Grandtide looked to me with a very disappointed expression on. I said, "And before you ask, no, Lighter does not know. And it needs to stay that way till the end of the quartex." Grandtide understood the plan and went back to helping clean up the base.

……

I checked the time. "Only two megacycles to show time." I peered around a corner and saw Granddarkness talking to Lighter about something. I walked up to them and said, "Hey. How have you two been?" They looked to me and Lighter said, "I've been looking for Wheeljack all quartex. I've been feeling really weird lately." Granddarkness said, "Today is the day when Lighter and I finally admitted our feelings for each other. But no one is around." I said, "Today is also a very important day for the pair of you. And I don't mean the whole admitting thing." They stared at me confusingly. I turned around and said, "Follow me." They did and we were at the door to the surprise they were going to get. I turned to them and smiled. Then I warped into the room. I said, "Places everyone!" And warped to my hiding spot when the door opened. Everyone surprised them by turning on the lights and saying, "CONGRATULATIONS!" There were streamers, confetti, and a whole lot of stuff for the two of them to enjoy. And us if they allowed us. Wheeljack walked up to Lighter and Granddarkness and said, "Lighter, Granddarkness. Clear your calendars, 'cause your both going to be parents!" Granddarkness' jaw dropped and Lighter squealed like a sparkling getting a new hover bike. She leapt at Granddarkness with a hug and the two of them fell over. Everyone laughed. This was a very special occasion. But I wasn't enjoying the party like everyone else. I walked over to the windows and looked out to the star lit night. I still didn't know who it was that shot that syringe that awakened my demon form. And I felt that someone had returned from the dead, but I didn't know who. I will find my answers and get the truth about my ancestry. Grainsurge patted my back and said, "Come on, Grandfire! Don't be a dipstick in the mud! Join the fun and games!" I turned to him and smiled. "Alright," I said. "But I will not be trick into a energon drinking contest." Grainsurge said, "You don't need to be. I signed you up for one anyway!" I looked to him, my faceplate saying _Oh no._ Grainsurge dragged me to the others who also signed up. This was going to be a long night.

……

A bot stood just outside of the Autobots' scanning range. It had shoulder mounted cannons, plane wings jetting out of its' back at an angle and were at an angle to look like they were level if looked at from above. Engine turbines was its' legs and feet. It had a fusion cannon on its' right arm that was shaped like a tank. A red Decepticon blazon on its' chest. It said, "This is not my universe. This universe still has its' Element Autobots. Yet, it is vaguely familiar to my own home. I just hope the Autobots here are friendly." The bot transformed to its' jet plane form and remained landed as it slipped into recharge. Worries about its' comrades haunted its' dreams. He slept in the dark, afraid that HE might come at any time and kill him in his sleep.

……

As I slammed my thirtieth glass of energon on the table, my last opponent fell backwards, too over energized to stand up. Grainsurge raised my left arm and said, "Winner and still the champion, Grandfire, by a stunning victory and a breaking of his old record of fifteen glasses of energon!" I said, "Bring on my next opponent. I can drink you all under the…ta…ble." I hit the table hard and went into a drunk induced recharge. I awoke again in my room. I looked to my right and saw Grandtide in a very deep recharge. I grabbed my head and said, "Ah, and I felt like the pit before. Oh, man! I feel like the pit had a rock concert and then blew up from too much rock and roll for it to take." My head was throbbing. I laid my head back down and felt a little better. There was a knock on the door which brought back the pain.

I said, "It's open!" as I grabbed my head to help ease the pain. Freezeframe came in through the open door and said, "I can help with that." I looked to him and he placed one of his servos on my forehead. His servo was colder than anything I've ever felt. But then, the pain in my head was gone. I bolted right up and Freezeframe said, "Told you." Then, the base alarms went off, saying, 'Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert! At the front door! Intruder Alert!' I ran out of the room and saw that there was a bot with the same form and description of an old enemy. I changed into my demon form and pounced on the thing that couldn't be who I think it could be. I growled, "Who are you?" The bot said, "My name is Megatron." I said, "Sorry. Try again. Megatron is dead." The bot said, "I'm not joking! I am Megatron, leader of the Decepticons in our war for survival against the evil Autobots." I backed off of him and said, "You aren't of this world." Megatron nodded and said, "I don't know if I'm the only one of my comrades who made it here, but I do know that only one of my enemies made it here. And he alone is a one robot army." He looked to me and said, "Strange. You look identical to him, but the colors are off." I changed back to my normal robot form and Megatron was startled by that. "You still use your original robot form!? How is that possible?!" I stared at Megatron confusingly. Then a really evil and maniacal laugh came through the base. Me and the Element Autobots ran outside with Megatron and saw someone that just wasn't possible to exist. He looked just like me in my demon form, only the colors on his frame were switched. Where I was red, it was orange on him. Where it was orange on me, it was red on him. His demon optics had the same shape on them just like mine, only the colors were switched. He looked at me, surprised. "Hahahahaha! You've GOT to be kidding! You came to these pathetic weaklings! Oh! How sad! Looks like I'm going to get the chance to kill the other Element Autobots all over again. And cause my power to increase even further!" Megatron was ready to fight my counter part, but I intervened. I asked, "What do you mean by 'kill them again?' They're your teammates! Why kill them?" He answered, "Because they were weak! And the fact that they had no further ties to me. You should have been there! The first to go was Grandthunder, and oh, how he screamed for mercy! Then it was Grainsurge. Followed by Grandgale. Then Granddarkness and Lighter were taken out together, like a happy couple! Yuck! Freezeframe, oh how he was angry with me for killing his girlfriend. He was nothing to my powers. All I did was look at him, and he melted like a snowman in July! My final victim, my dear sweet Grandtide, heh, not! She was last. And I didn't spare her a quick death, oh no. I sank my fangs into her throat and turned her into fire energies slowly, so that she knows what it feels like to die a slow and painful death." He started laughing. He enjoyed killing his friends and family!? What kind of monster is he! I changed to my demon form and tackled him hard. I pinned him to the ground and he kept laughing. He said, "I call that form my normal form. THIS is a demon form!" His short, sharp fangs, grew longer. The spikes on his shoulders grew longer also. The spines on his back grew longer and curved downward. The bottom tips of his wings turned into spikes too. The fur on the tip of his tail tuned completely metal. The claws on his servos went completely sharp. So did is clawed feet. He punched me and I went flying to the right and hit a lot of rocks. When I hit a rock surface dense enough to not break, I stopped abruptly. I feel of the rock onto my stomach and couldn't get up. My back felt a lot worse than my head did this morning. Reverse Grandfire had quickly come up to me and said, "Ah! Did I break the widdle kitties back?" He was playing with me. He barely touched my back and a whole new level of pain shot through it. I roared like lion in severe pain. Reverse Grandfire said, "You can't do a thing now. But I on the other servo, can do anything I want to this world's Element Autobots. And you can't do anything to stop me." I said, "Want to bet?" I groaned when a wave of pain came from my back. Reverse Grandfire laughed, stood up, and walked slowly to the others. I saw that Reverse Megatron was ready to defend the others from Reverse Grandfire. I got up, despite the immense pain, and said, "Pain? What pain? I don't feel any pain! All I feel is my spark telling me to completely destroy you!" Reverse Grandfire turned around too late. I punched him square in the faceplate and caused him to fall into stasis lock. He changed back into his…our true normal form. I looked to Grandtide, saw the worry in her faceplate, and smiled. I fell forwards and feel into a deep stasis lock from going a bit too far with the whole hero of the universe thing. Darn me and my need to be heroic.

……

Grandtide ran to Grandfire just as he fell on the ground. Wheeljack was right behind her. He said, "Don't touch him yet! I need to see how much his back is broken, if it is." Grandtide moved herself to the other side of Grandfire as Wheeljack knelt down with a scanner. He passed it over Grandfire's back and looked at the readings. Even though you can't see his mouth at all, the expression from his optics told everything. Grandtide's optics started to form tears. Wheeljack looked to the others and said, "Sunstreaker, Sideswipe! Get a stretcher from the med-bay! Bumblebee! You and Grandthunder use your electric powers to form a magnetic field and slowly lift Grandfire onto the stretcher! And don't flip him over! You'll do more harm than good." Everyone that Wheeljack talked to went off to do what they were told. Once Grandfire was safely in the med-bay, Wheeljack removed the armor plating on Grandfire's back and obtained items to straighten out Grandfire's back. Wheeljack had wires, needles, and everything imaginable that helps with straightening the back. Wheeljack paused to see Grandtide watching everything that is going to happed to her husband. Wheeljack said, "You might want to step outside. What I'm about to do may cause you to be a bit squeamish." Grandtide shook her head and said, "No. I'm seeing this through to the end." Wheeljack said, "Don't say I didn't warn you." Wheeljack looked back to Grandfire's body and grabbed an energon knife from the table of surgical utensils and began to cut the exo-structure( a transformers' skin). Grandtide saw what Wheeljack was doing and felt a little nauseous. She tried to shake off the feeling, but the sight was too much for her. She rush out of the med-bay and headed for the nearest trashcan. Wheeljack continued to cut the exo-structure and placed the straightening items into there proper places. When he was done, he welded the cuts closed and whipped his servos off in a towel. He stepped outside the med-bay and saw all the Element Autobots in the chairs of the waiting area. Grandtide saw Wheeljack first and asked, "Is Grandfire going to be alright?" The others looked to Wheeljack and were awaiting an answer. Wheeljack flung the towel over his shoulder and said, "He is going to be alright. But he'll need to be off his back for a long time." Grandgale asked, "How long?" Wheeljack looked to her and said, "At least a whole decacycle. The amount of broken bones is monumental. I'm surprised he didn't go offline again." Grandtide said, "This is no time to be kidding around Wheeljack!" Wheeljack snapped, "I'm not kidding! This is very serious!" Everyone was silent. Wheeljack said, "I'm sorry, but you have to understand that I'm not a miracle worker. I just do my job, and make sure that everyone is alright." Everyone turned their attention to the med-bay doors. Wheeljack turned around and saw that his most resent patient was already up and about.

……

As I was steeping out of the med-bay, I said, "Hi. Did I miss anything?" Grandtide's optics were full of tears. I didn't understand why until Wheeljack said, "Oh no you don't! You are going to remain in the med-bay till your back is fully healed!" Then I remembered my fight with Reverse Grandfire. I asked, "Where is Reverse Megatron?" Grandthunder said, "While Wheeljack was repairing you, Reverse Megatron used a device to open a portal to his dimension and took Reverse Grandfire with him. With Reverse Grandfire is fire proof restraints." Grandtide walked up to me and said in a gentile tone, "You need to wait at least a decacycle before you can do anything." I looked to her, then to Wheeljack, who nodded, then back to Grandtide and said, "However long it takes, so long as you'll be waiting for me, I don't care if it'll take a thousand stellarcycles." Grandtide smiled and said, "Always." and tried to kiss me, but Wheeljack said, "Don't. He needs to start resting. Right now, as he is, he's just putting himself in more danger." Grandtide backed away. She walked with the others to the sleeping chambers. I walked back into the med-bay with Wheeljack and he helped me get into a bed. He said, "You need to remain off your back. No sleeping on it. No lifting anything but a small glass of energon. And especially, no changing to your demon form." I looked to Wheeljack and said, "I need to drain fire energies every full moon. Could you ask Grandthunder or Granddarkness to get a squirrel or something so that I don't go after anyone I don't want to kill." Wheeljack looked to me like I was crazy, then remembered my demon form and nodded. "Sure. No problem." I said, "Thanks. And even if you don't think so, I think you are a miracle worker."

The expression in Wheeljack's optics told me that he was smiling. I got comfortable on the bed and fell asleep.

……

"OW! OW! OW! You're welding in the wrong spots!" I said to Wheeljack as he was welding some openings on my back. "Quit squirming and it won't hurt as much!" I said, "I squirm because you're welding in the wrong places!" It had finally been a decacycle since Wheeljack put back straighteners in my back. He had removed them and was welding the openings closed. "There. That should do it. Just don't do anything too extreme for a while." I got off the welding bed, looked to Wheeljack and said, "No promises." I stepped out of the med-bay and headed for the com-room. I stopped in the middle of the hallway, looked behind me and said, "You have bad hiding skills. Especially with your sent. I could tell you were following me, Spitfire." I heard a "Slaget!" from behind me and Spitfire uncloaked himself. He walked up to me, I turned around to face him, and he said, "I keep forgetting that you can smell anyone because of your demon form. Where can I get one of those?" I said, "Believe me, Spitfire, you don't want the curse I posses. It'll help protect your family, but you'll never be able to control the hunger urges because of it." Spitfire said, "About my family, we're staying here." I said, "You will do no such thing Spitfire! You and your family are taking the next shuttle to Cybertron." Spitfire asked, "What's wrong with us staying here with you?" I said, "What's wrong? What's wrong!? I'll tell you what's wrong! I could bite you if I forget to feed off of an organic animal! Isn't that enough of a reason to leave?" Grandtide said from behind me, "I see it as an excuse to not have good family time with each other." I spun around and saw Grandtide glaring at me. I said, "Alright, alright. You can stay Spitfire. And your family." I looked behind me and saw Spitfire with a smile on. I thought, _This is a bad idea. But I guess it did sound like an excuse to not have some old family fun together._ I looked to Grandtide and she was now smiling. She gave me a kiss on the cheek and said, "Now you're starting to act like a good father." I did a double take as Grandtide walked past me to go to the training chambers. I said, "Be still my pulsing spark." I turned to the direction I was going and headed to the com-room.

……

Eight Months Later

I was leaning my back to a wall in the waiting area of the med-bay, Optics closed and arms crossed. Grainsurge and Grandthunder were in a arm wrestling struggle. Freezeframe and Grandgale were in their usual argument over where they should go for their monthly anniversary. Grandtide was trying to get Granddarkness to stop pacing around the waiting area. "If you would stop doing all this pacing, then maybe you'll have a good name for your new sparkling." Grandtide said for the third time to Granddarkness. And he said for the third time, "I can't help it. I'm new to this whole parenting thing. What if he doesn't like me?" Grandtide said, "Or her." Granddarkness said, "Please just stop trying to calm me down. You're not helping at all." I smiled to myself. Wheeljack stepped out of the med-bay and said, "Granddarkness, Grandfire, Grandtide, Grandthunder, you may come in now." Grandthunder had finally won the struggle and got out of his seat to go into the med-bay. Grandtide and Granddarkness walked into the med-bay together. I unfolded my arms, stopped leaning against the wall, opened my optics and stepped inside the med-bay. Wheeljack entered behind me and closed the doors. Grandthunder, Grandtide and Granddarkness were already at the bed where Lighter was. I walked over and saw Lighter holding a small grey sparkling. It had the same alt mode parts like both of its' parents. But, one optic was a deep shade of ice blue while the other optic was black with a white pupil. One of its' wings was feathered. The other was like mine, leather and shaped like a dragon's wing. Everyone was confused because both Granddarkness and Lighter have feathered wings. Wheeljack said, "He still needs a name." Granddarkness and Lighter looked to each other, to the sparkling, then to Wheeljack and said at the same time, "Twilight." Wheeljack stared at them confused for a while and said, "Very well. The sparkling of the light and of the shadows will be called Twilight. Congrats." Granddarkness walked closer to Lighter and his new son. He bent over to look at his son's face. Twilight buried his head in Lighter's chestplate. The two of them looked to each other with smiles. They leaned close enough to each other for them to kiss.

……

Eight years later

"Come on Twilight! I thought you said you could keep up?" I said behind me. Twilight answered, "Hey, I just learned how to fly with two different wings!" It had been eight long painful years since I learned the truth about my past. And with that knowledge, a new level of my demon form emerged. I glanced back to Twilight. He looked so much like his parents. The only thing that throws him off from being like only one of his parents, is his wings. His optics also threw everyone off because one matches his mother's and the other matches his father's. But I noticed that Twilight was looking at something or someone. I looked to where he was looking and saw my granddaughter, Thundercast, watching Twilight and I practice flying. I hadn't seen when Thundercast obtained a beast mode, but she had obtained a scan of an eagle. She had the same coloration of her mother, and a burning attitude from her father. If you were to put her in a chamber with just her and Scorpinoc, you'll find a lot of scorpion bits all over the chamber. I glanced back to Twilight and saw that same look in his optics as I did when I first met Grandtide as a human. I smiled. I adjusted myself to a hover and said, "Twilight," He looked to me and was in a hover too. "We've done enough practice today. Let's land and get back to the base." His faceplate lit up with happiness. He flew to the ledge where Thundercast was and landed. I laughed to myself. It could work between the two of them. Thundercast only has an age lead by three decacycles. I flew to the ledge, landed and said, "Come on kids. Let's go." The three of us started to walk back, but then I heard something that sounded like a helicopter. I turned around and so did the other two. Thundercast screamed from shock and fear when a helicopter rose out of the gorge and transformed into a Decepticon. I yelled, "Get behind me kids!" They did and now I was their shield. I remained focused on the Decepticon in front of me. He hovered there, silent. I broke the silence by saying, "What do you want Blackout?" He chuckled and said, "I'm here to pick up something for the Fallen. Namely, that little twerp that the light and shadows spawned. I looked down and saw Twilight, completely scared, clinging to my leg. I looked back to Blackout and said, "Just try and take him." Blackout gave me the whole hand taunt. I looked to my right leg and saw Thundercast, just as scared as Twilight, and clinging on to my leg just as hard. I whispered to her, "Listen, when I say so, I want you to take Twilight and run for the base. Keep running and never look back. Can you do that for me?" She looked to me and gave me a nervous nod. I said, "Good. Now, on the count of three. One." She let go of my leg and got Twilight to let go just as the spikes curved out of them and the clawed feet appeared. "Two." I heard them slowly backing away, ready to run at any moment. The spikes on my back emerged and were longer and sharper. The claws on my servos emerged and were ready to cut through anything. My shoulder spikes curved out and looked so sharp that they could cut the air. The tips on both the bottom and top of my wings came forth. My fangs emerged, longer and sharper. My optics turned black and my pupils became cat like and crimson red. "Three!" I heard the two of them race of to the base. I leapt at Blackout and he and I got into the biggest fight any Autobot or Decepticon can only hope of having.

……

Twilight was having a hard time keeping up with Thundercast as they were running through the vast mountain desert. He tripped over a hidden rock and fell hard on his side. Thundercast looked behind her and saw Twilight on the ground holding his right arm. Thundercast ran to him. She helped him up and saw that his arm only had a small dent in it. Thundercast said, "Come on! We have to get the others to help grandpa Grandfire!" Twilight looked at Thundercast in the optics, then back to where his half uncle was fighting. He put on a serous expression and said, "I've got to help him! You can go back if you want to, but I'm going to help!" Thundercast said, "But you only know how to use your mom's element! You can't use your dad's or your own element yet!" He looked to Thundercast again and said, "My mom's element is good enough for me! And before I go," He leaned closer to Thundercast. "I always thought you were cute." He stood up and ran back to the battle. Thundercast sat there, on her knees, blushing. "He thought I was cute?" she said to herself. She stood up and said proudly, even though no one was there to hear her, "I think you're cute too." She ran after Twilight, but he had gotten a huge lead on her. She jumped into the air. "I can cover more ground if I fly."

……

Blackout had me pinned to the ground, my head just barely going over the edge of the gorge. He had a servo around my neck and was keeping me pinned down. I had both my servos on his arm that was choking me. My claws were deep in his armor, but he didn't let go. He chuckled and said, "Your claws can no longer hurt me. I am immune to your touch and powers." His grip tightened around my neck. I could still breath, but barely. "I'm going to break your neck in two." His grip tightened even more. But then, he and I heard a voice say, "Get your servos of my uncle!" Blackout looked to the voice and was hit square in the faceplate by a beam of solid light. He lost his grip on me as he was sent to the side by the blast. I let go of his arm. I grabbed my neck and took a big breathe of air and panted for a while till I got my breathe back. I looked in front of me and saw Twilight trying to get me to stand up. I said, "I told you to run to the base and never look back." He looked to me and said, "Families don't give up on each other." I stared at him for a while. But the moment was ruined when Blackout laughed and said, "Oh, THAT is rich! You two aren't even fully related! You shouldn't be called uncle and nephew." Twilight ran at him with another solid light attack ready, but Blackout drew his rotating blades and came across Twilight's faceplate. Twilight flew backwards towards me and was holding his servos in front of something. Blackout got to him first, raised his fist in the air and said, "So much for the son of the light and shadows." He was about to bring his fist down, but was then get shocked, literally. I looked behind him and saw Thundercast Using her mothers powers to stop Blackout. When she couldn't keep the current going, Blackout looked behind him and saw her. He said, "I've had enough of you brats!" He aimed his left servo at her. It changed into his built in EMP blaster. He turned a dial on it and said, "There is enough power to completely destroy you and not have anything left to melt into a sheet of steel." I quickly got up and ran at Blackout with Bankai drawn. But somehow, Twilight was just a bit faster. Just as Blackout fired his EMP blaster, Twilight pushed himself and Thundercast out of the way of the blast itself. I raised Bankai above my head and brought it down and cut off the arm with the EMP on it at the elbow. Blackout yelled in pain. I slammed Bankai's edge into the ground. I grabbed Blackout by his other arm, held him over the edge of the gorge and brought his faceplate close to mine. Then I used my other servo and ran it right through his abdomen. Blackout spat some energon and said, "You Autobots…never had the circuitry…to do… something like this…" I said, "I'm still part demon. And this demon doesn't like to play by the rules." Blackout said, "By doing this…you've sealed your own doom…" I said, "I don't care. So long as I can protect the innocent from the likes of you Decepticons, you can do all you want to me." Blackout laughed and said, "You…have no…idea what the…Fallen has for the…one you call…Twilight…" I removed my arm from his abdomen and said, "Lights out, Blackout." and threw him into the darkness of the gorge. When I couldn't see the red lights from his optics, I changed back into my normal robot form and ran to Twilight and Thundercast. Thundercast was already trying to heal injuries that Twilight obtained. I walked back to grab Bankai and put him away. I walked back to the kids and Twilight looked to me. I was shocked to see that Blackout had done enough damage to cause Twilight to go blind in the optic that matched his mother's. I transformed to beast mode and said, "Get on my back." Thundercast and Twilight hesitated, but got on nonetheless. I walked in the direction of the base. Once we were clear of the desert, Thundercast asked, "Why don't you teleport us to the base?" I answered, "Because I don't have enough energy to perform such a task with two individuals." She said, "I've seen you teleport back and forth to places with grandma Grandtide." I said, "It was only me and her that were going to those places. I can easily teleport with me and one other. But with me and two others, that'll take too much energy and I barley have enough to make myself teleport to the base alone." Thundercast was quiet for a while. I heard Twilight asleep on my back. As we were getting to the edge of the forest, I asked, "Thundercast? Could you wake up Twilight gently?" She said, "Sure. No problem." She turned to Twilight, who was sitting behind her. She put a servo on his shoulder and slowly shook him. Twilight opened his optics lazily and yawned, "Are we there yet?" I said, "Just a few more cycles and we will be." I heard Thundercast yawn also.

I looked to the sky and saw that the sun was about to set. I looked to my passengers and said, "We'll be at the base before nightfall." But the pair of them had fallen asleep. I looked back to in front of me and continued to walk to the base. When I reached the base, Grandtide, Granddarkness, Lighter, and Thunderbird were at the entrance. I walked in front of them and said to Granddarkness, Lighter, and Thunderbird, "The two of them were quite the warriors." Lighter and Thunderbird grabbed their kids and Walked quietly into the base to head to bed themselves. I transformed to robot mode and said to Grandtide, "I'll be in shortly. Go and get some sleep." She said, "I'd like to wait for you." I said, "Then you'll be waiting a long time." Granddarkness grabbed my shoulder and spun me to face him. He was angry. He said, "What happened that caused my son to have one optic go blind?" I said, "Blackout happened." He got even angrier with me. "You let him fight?! Why didn't you send them to the base?!" I yelled, "I told them to go to the base and not look back! Your son gets his stubbornness from you!" One of his optics started to twitch. "You could have stopped him from getting hurt!" I yelled, "Blackout had strangled me and would have killed me if your son hadn't come in!" Granddarkness punched me in the side of my faceplate and said, "I'm glade Blackout didn't! Now I can do the job for him!" Grandtide got in-between us and said, "Whoa! Down some coolant! We're all family here!" I yelled at Granddarkness, "At least I'm real!" Granddarkness yelled, "Half human!" I stood there, shocked. I got really angry with him and said, "That was a low blow. It applies to most of us." He turned around and said, "I don't care! From now on, I'm not allowing Twilight to spend any time with you, your son, or his daughter! Twilight will never be allowed near any of you!" My anger went away when I saw something at the entrance of the base. Grandtide and Granddarkness looked too and all the anger flushed out of Granddarkness all at once. The three of us saw Twilight standing there, listening to us fight. "Why won't you let me play with Thundercast, dad?" Twilight asked his father. Granddarkness walked up to Twilight and said, "I'm sorry you had to hear that. But I can't risk you getting hurt again." Twilight was now getting angry with Granddarkness. Twilight yelled, "You just don't want me to be happy! You were never happy with me when all I've been trying to do is be a good son." Twilight's optics started to form tears. "I hate you." he said too low for Granddarkness or Grandtide to hear. Granddarkness asked, shocked, "What?" Twilight looked to his father with a most hateful glare, "I hate you! I wish I wasn't your son!" Twilight pushed past his father and took off into the air. Granddarkness yelled, "Wait! Come back! Twilight! I didn't mean what I said!" I walked past Granddarkness and said, "Too late. I'm sorry Granddarkness, I really am." I heard him drop to his knees and howled like a wolf to the full moon in sadness, true sadness. I slammed my fist on the wall closest to me. I said, "Damn it," to keep with my human heritage.

……

Unless said otherwise, the story will now be told through Twilight's point of view.

……

I was trying to stop crying, but was failing miserably. I was getting really tired of flying and was looking for a place to land and rest for a cycle or two. I found a good enough clearing and landed. I lied down on the grassy ground under a bunch of tall trees. I folded my wings around me to help keep me warm. My optics felt heavy. I closed them and feel right asleep. When I opened them again, I was in a dungeon like cell. It was too dark for me to see anything. I yelled, "Mom! Dad!" I heard my words echo through the area. I was feeling really scared. I heard someone walk up to my cell. I looked up and saw a old looking bot with a worn out Autobot symbol. He said, "You look hungry." He unlocked my cell door and opened it. "Come with me and let's see if we can't find you anything to eat." I stood up and walked out of the cell. The old bot closed the cell door and said, "My name is the Fallen. What's yours?" I looked up to him and felt like he would be more like a father to me than d…I mean, Granddarkness. I smiled and said, "My name is Twilight. I would like something to eat." Fallen smiled back to me and offered one of his servos. He said, "Come. Walk with me." I put my servo in his and the two of us walked out of the dungeon.

……

Grandfire: Three years later

I was looking over the maps of the Decepticon base, again. I looked at all of the maps day in, day out, trying to find out if Twilight was in there or not. I had lost all respect from Granddarkness. Thundercast still believes that I will find Twilight and bring him back. There was a knock at the door. I said, "I told you once before, Magnus! I don't want to be disturbed!" I heard the door open. I turned around and said, "I thought I said…" but stopped when I saw Grandtide with a plate of mini energon cubes and a big glass of fire energon. She said, "I know you don't want anyone distracting you, but you haven't come out of this room for three solarcycles straight. You're getting a lot of us very concerned." I rubbed my temples and said, "I am truly sorry if I have any of you frightened, but I really need to find out if the Decepticons have Twilight or not. He's been gone for three stellarcycles today." Grandtide placed the trey of energon on a table and said, "You're getting yourself way over worked." She walked over to me, grabbed my arm and said, "You need to get your lazy skidplate outside." She started to drag me out of the room and out of the base. I winced at the sun beaming on my optics. After they adjusted, I saw the beauty of being outside. Everything was just so peaceful. But it was all shattered when a snow painted armored vehicle started shooting everything in it's way. But then it transformed into the Decepticon known as Wreckage. His double blades out, cut through everything. He only gave the others minor wounds. He easily batted me away and grabbed Thundercast. She screamed and tried reaching for her mother or father, while flailing. I got up and ran at Wreckage and so did Spitfire. He and I grabbed onto Wreckage just as he warped out. After the warp was done, Wreckage threw me and Spitfire into two different walls. I was bound to the wall instantly, but Spitfire fell on his stomach and tried to get up. Wreckage placed Thundercast in a weird chair and strapped her to it. I asked, "What do you want with Thundercast?" Wreckage looked to me and said, "I'm just following orders given to me by the Fallen. He ordered me to dispose of this femme." I looked to Spitfire. There was a faint aura around him. Wreckage looked to Spitfire also. He looked back to me and asked, "Have you read the Prophecy of the Third?" I shook my head. He continued, "It tells of these two transformers that can cast two elements from their parents, and one of the two elements combined. It said, and I quote: 'The first will survive, but the other must die.' We all know that there are two children of two Element Autobot pairings. But which one is the first, some of us had our doubts." Spitfire had finally stood up and said, "Let my daughter go." Wreckage looked to Spitfire and said, "Please! You can't do anything here!" I noticed a second aura around Spitfire now. But Wreckage couldn't see either of the two. Then I heard water start to drip out of the ceiling. Wreckage heard the water too and now looked really scared of Spitfire. "You… You are the first! You have the powers of both your parents!" I was confused. Sure Spitfire looks like me, but his armor color comes from…oh sure, NOW it hits me. "Spitfire, you're going to need to be very careful with your water powers. You could kill me and Thundercast!" I said. Spitfire heard me, but said, "Time to heat things up and cool them down!" He raised his right servo at me and a turret of fire came at me. It gave me enough strength to break free of the wall. I leapt at Wreckage and pinned him to a wall while my arm was pressing against his throat. Spitfire had ran to Thundercast and got her out of the chair. He said, "Come on dad! We need to get out of here! This place is going to get flooded real soon!" I said, "Go on ahead. I'll catch up." Spitfire used his teleporting powers to get him and Thundercast out. I said, "What has the Fallen done to Twilight?" Wreckage said, "Twilight will forever belong to us. He will help bring the destruction and resurrection of a new Cybertron!" I said, "Sorry, right answer, wrong attitude." I brought out Bankai and cut his head clean off. I sheathed Bankai and teleported out just as the ceiling gave out and water rushed in. When I teleported to the base, it was in ruins! Panels here, walls there. Everything that was the base was gone. I noticed that there was a note on the only piece of the base that didn't get destroyed. I read it and it said, 'If you want to find me, turn around.' I turned around just as I saw a fissure open beneath me and I tumbled in it. I looked up and saw a small glimpse of Twilight, before the fissure closed over me.

……

Twilight

My name is Twilight. I am the son of the shadows and of the light. I wasn't meant to exist, yet I do. I was able to get rid of those who would hurt me the most. My master has shown me ways to use my powers in ways I didn't think possible. I had just sent out my Terrorcon army to scour the planet Earth for any remaining energon deposits. I was walking through a foggy city when I heard someone say, "You tried to kill us." I recognized the voice. I turned to the voice's direction, but didn't see anything. Another voice said, "You wanted us gone." I turned to that voice. "But you could get the job done." I turned back and forth between to different directions. I yelled, "I'm not afraid!" A forth voice said, "Two of us can tell the you're lying, son." I was startled. "No…no, no, no! I am not afraid of anyone!" A fifth voice said, "You broke my granddaughter's heart." I yelled, "We are machines! We have no hearts! And the one your talking about had no feelings for me! How could she even like me!?" I heard the first voice say, "Believe what you want, Twilight. But know this about your master, he ordered for her to be killed." My optics widened. I yelled, "No. NO! You must be lying!" I heard from behind me a voice I thought I'd never hear again. "They aren't lying. I was there when Wreckage told dad and grandpa Grandfire." I spun around and saw Thundercast. She was only a few feet away from me. I backed up and then took into the air. I flew back to the Fallen's fortress. I ran into the cave, flew open the doors and yelled, "You lied to me! You said that the others wanted me to die because they knew the prophecy!" Fallen turned to me and said, "Yes, I lied. But I control you now. And now is the time for the new age of Cybertron to exist." I suddenly stared to walk to a pitfall without moving on my own accord. I looked to the Fallen and saw him causing me to move. My arms raised and the two elements of light and shadows formed in my servos. They lifted out of my servos and grew bigger and bigger. They hovered in place far above the pitfall. I heard an explosion from behind me and heard Grandfire say, "Autobots! Attack!" The Fallen caused me to fight off the others as the two elements grew to the size of a small pond. Then a lake. They kept growing. I was now facing Thundercast, her leg was stuck in a pile of boulders. My left servo rose and shadow energy surrounded it. Thundercast said, "You don't have to listen to him anymore." I said, "I have no choice. He's too strong." Thundercast said, "There's always a choice." Fallen said, "What are you waiting for? Finish her." I was able to gain control and sent a blast of dark energy at the Fallen. He used his own way of warping to escape. Wheeljack said, "If those two orbs touch, then we can kiss this planet and Cybertron goodbye!" Grandfire said, "Autobots! Let's begin evacuating Earth and Cybertron!" I looked to Thundercast and freed her from the rocks. I said to her, "There isn't time. Go and get to safety. I can stop this." She grabbed my shoulders and said, "Don't be a hero! There's no way your going to survive! We have no choice but to leave Earth with what humans we can!" I removed her servos from my shoulders, leaned into her and kissed her right on the lips. I backed away and said, "There's always a choice." I used my light powers to teleport all the Autobots out of the cave. I flew in-between the orbs and poured all my strength into them. The two orbs overlapped over me.

……

Grandfire: Three hours later

'He was an enemy who was once our friend. He was the light to our darkness. He was special to one of us, yet loved by all of us. His name was Twilight, and he was the best of us all. May we find a way to bring him out of his stone prison. And may he be remembered as a hero, not the villain he was tricked into becoming. His light will forever be with us. And may his shadow be recognized as good. May the love that helped him save two worlds help him on his journey home to us, his family, his friends.'

-Memorial to Twilight:

Grandfire

Grandtide

Grandthunder

Grainsurge

Grandgale

Freezeframe

Granddarkness

Lighter

His love,

Thundercast

As we approached what was left of the base, Lighter burst into tears. We turned to her and she had dropped to her knees. Granddarkness was hugging her, rocking back and forth, and saying, "It's ok, it's ok. We'll find a way to bring him out of his stone stance. Shh, shh." Lighter was calming down a little. I turned to Grandtide. She was upset about something, and I knew what it was. I walked up to her and said in a gentle voice, "I'm sorry about your orchard. When this war is officially over, I'll help you plant new flowers." She turned to me and started crying on my shoulder. I hugged her and gently patted her back. Grainsurge said, "Well now what'll we do? We have no home anymore. There aren't any Autobot bases left that survived Twilight's rampage." I looked to him and said, "I don't know." Grandtide and Lighter stopped crying instantly and everyone stared at me shocked. Grandthunder said, "You're kidding, right? You always have a backup plan." I looked to him and said, "Not this time. I didn't expect this to happen." Spitfire walked up to me and said, "At least we still have each other and our families." We all looked to him and nodded. "That's my boy." I complemented. Skidz said, "Well, we still have to take care of those Decepti-creeps that are still here." All the none elemental Autobots agreed with him. But then, a flash of bright orange light filled the entire area. When the light faded, the Fallen stood at the location of the light. He said, "I have waited long enough to postpone the eight of your's deaths. Now is the time to kill the eight of you myself. With the aid of the forbidden books!" The eight of us took our fighting stances. I said to Wheeljack, "Get out of here. And take the others as well." I turned to Spitfire, "Go and lead the evacuation of the nearby cities and towns." Spitfire asked, "Will you come back?" I turned back to the Fallen and said, "Maybe." Spitfire turned to the others and told them what I told him to do. Once everyone but the nine of us were left in the area, the Fallen said, "From the light to the dark; from life to death; from the start to the end; I call upon your inner dread, hate, and evil wills! Come and add your strength to me so that we will be Legion!" Then the ground beneath us shook violently, as if the Earth itself was afraid of the Fallen. Then from all corners of the area, small, dark, shadowy orbs flew right to the Fallen. They merged with his spark. When the last one entered his spark, he grew to the height of two skyscrapers. He laughed and said, "You have no chance of defeating me now!" Granddarkness yelled, "Oh yeah!? Let's see you hold up to this!" and sent a huge blast of darkness energy at the Fallen. It didn't leave even the tiniest scratch! I yelled, "Get air born everyone! We'll try Flight Fight plan 4!" They nodded and the eight of us took to the air and hovered in different spots around the Fallen. We used our strongest attacks against him, starting with me. "INFERNO FIRE!" Grandtide: "TIDAL SUGERER!" Grandthunder: "SUPER THUNDER VORTEX!" Grandgale: "HURRICAN BLITS!" Grainsurge: "ROCK BOMB BLASTER!" Granddarkness: "NIGHTMARE SINDROM!" Lighter: "LIGHT BECONER!" Freezeframe: "FROZEN FURY!" All our attack hit him, but still didn't do a thing! The Fallen said, "That tickled. My turn." He raised both his servos into the air and sent a shock wave that caused all of us to be pushed back several feet and land hard on the ground. I got up and said, "Everyone! Forget energy attacks! Fight him with your weapons and physical attacks!" We charged at the Fallen from eight different directions. He lowered his arms and said, "Don't make me laugh. You all couldn't even dream about defeating me! You're all nothing but flies in my way to curing Cybertron of the organic filth that now inhabit it." He easily swatted us away with one sweep of his arm. I changed to my demon form and said, "I don't want any of you getting in my way! Regroup and hold!" I leapt at the Fallen as he was walking to the nearest town. I landed on his oversized shoulder and bit down hard on his big neck. All he did was flick me away without even looking! I tumbled backward and landed near the others. They were as badly damaged as I was. I got back up, but flinched in pain. "My back. I think he re-broke my back!" I tried to stand up again, but Grandtide got in front of me, grabbed the top of my shoulders, pushed me into a seated position and said, "Stop Grandfire. Just stop. We can't stop the Fallen. Even our most powerful attacks couldn't slow him down. It's over." I finally remembered an attack that Grandthunder and I could use. I stood right up and said, "Listen to me, all of you! We all have the ability to generate all our strength into one spot, our right servos." Grandthunder saw where I was going and said, "No way! We're not doing that! There's no guaranty that we'll survive that in our present state!" I looked to him and said, "Like we have a choice! We have to do this together or the Fallen will continue to hurt innocent people! He may find our human parents eventually." They all muttered to themselves. I raised my right fist into the air and yelled, "Who's with me?!" They looked to me and yelled at the same time, "WE ARE!" I lowered my fist and said, "Alright. Now close your optics and focus. Send all your strength and power to your right servo." All of their right servos started to glow. "Good. Now wait for us to get close enough to Fallen and then unleash all your strength at once. Now open your optics and follow me!" They opened their optics and we took to the air. We flew fast enough to fly right in front of the Fallen without him noticing. I ignited my right servo and said, "Everyone! Stay in tune with what I say and do!" We raised our right servos and we said, "THESE SERVO OF OURS BURNS WITH THE FURY OF THE ELEMENTS! PREPAIR TO FEEL THEIR MIGHT!" We charged at the Fallen and spoke the name of our attacks. Me: "ERUPTING FINGER!" Grandthunder: "STATIC FINGER!" Grandtide: "TIDAL FINGER!" Grandgale: "CYCLONE FINGER!" Grainsurge: "ROCKY FINGER!" Granddarkness: "SHADOW FINGER!" Lighter: "RADIANT FINGER!" Freezeframe: "FROZEN FINGER!" We thrusted our servos right at the Fallen's spark and took the form of a thin beam of all of our armor colors. We passed right through the Fallen's spark and destroyed it.

……

Spitfire

I yelled, "Keep moving, keep moving! This is an emergency! Keep moving!" Wheeljack was helping me direct the humans safely out of the city. I turned to him and asked, "How many more are left?" He turned to me and said, "Too many! At this rate, the Fallen will be on us at any moment!" He and I then heard an explosion come from the area where we left mom and dad and the others to fight. I turned to the direction of the explosion and said, "Hold off on the evac." I turned on my communicator and said, "Thunderbird, get the others that have element powers and get them to the area we left mom and dad fight in." She said back, "Understood." and cut the connection. I took off into the air and flew to the battle area. Behind me was Thunderbird, our daughter Thundercast, my twin sisters Tidalcrest and Firestar, and my son Hotstreak. We landed just outside of a blast crater that was flat. In the center, I saw mom, dad, and the others. We ran to them. But when we got close enough, we saw their bodies fading in and out of reality. Glitter-like stars were rising off of them. I approached my parents and asked, "Mom? Dad? Are you two alright?" Dad looked to me and said, "Guess we did use too much power. Sorry Spitfire, but it's time for us to go." I looked to mom, but she was looking in the direction of the setting sun. I looked to the other Element Autobots, and they knew that they couldn't stay for long. Grandthunder approached Thunderbird and said, "Take good care of your mother for me." Thunderbird tried to hug Grandthunder, but passed right through him. Aunt Grandgale said, "We have till the sun sets to remain here." Dad turned to the sunset and said, "Element Autobots, head for the light." They all turned to the sunset and started walking. I raised my servo to the air and yelled, "Till all are one!" I kept yelling it every third nano-click. Thunderbird joined me. Them my sisters. Then everyone who was there. Then I heard the humans and transformers from the nearby cities and towns join us. Dad stopped and looked back to us. He turned back to the sunset and raised his servo to the air and gave us a big thumbs up! When the sun fully set, the eight of them were gone. I felt something in my optics. I lowered my servo and felt water on my optics! I was crying. Crying tears of sadness, and at the same time, joy. Joy knowing that their stories will last for all eternity.

……

Spitfire: ten years later

It has been ten stellarcycles since my mom and dad fought against the Fallen and won. Wheeljack was able to find a cure for the stone prison that was around Twilight. He and my daughter Thundercast wed only seven stellarcycles ago, the same time Twilight was freed. Two stellarcycles later, Thundercast gave birth to a new kind of Element Autobot. Her name is Aurora, and she looks like both her parents, armor wise. But her colors were that of all the original Element Autobots. She can also use their elements. I am so proud of everyone that was, and is, special to me. I just hope mom and dad are doing ok.

……

Andrew Stayton

As I was standing in front of the statue that the others made for us, I read the plate that was on the base of it. It read, 'To the bravest of us all, and to the strongest of us all, we dedicate this statue of the eight greatest Autobots in history. Their story lives on in all of us.' I chuckled a little. I said, "Geez Spitfire! Think you went too far with the statue." Fang said, "At least it's made of a metal that'll never rust." Shaun said, "True. But I would have liked it if they added our weapons to it." Victoria asked, "Isn't that why we're here?" Josh said, "I didn't get a weapon of my own." Taryn said, "He's right." I said, "You didn't ask. And your weapon would have been a scythe." Josh said, "I still have some power left. Just enough to make a scythe out of ice that'll never melt." I said, "You don't need to do that." I pulled out of my special backpack a long poled scythe. "Happy now?" Josh grabbed the scythe from my hand and nodded. I turned to Samantha and said, "How about one more kiss? We won't have any bodies where we're going." She turned to me and said, "Alright." She and I leaned to each other and kissed for a long time. Marcos said, "While we still have time please." Samantha and I stopped kissing and looked to the statue. The eight of us lifted our weapons to the statues and they went right to the robot hand that their suppose to be held in. I turned to the others and said, "Let's fly!" and we took to the air. We flew in the direction of the setting sun and we all said together, "Till all are one! Transform!"

This is the end of my story. But Aurora's is just beginning. Now it's time to follow Aurora's story as it unfolds to some new adventures. And remember the words of Primus as they are told throughout the reaches of time and space.

Till all are one! Transform, and believe!


End file.
